


Anything For Them

by Salacommander



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Mental Health Issues, Post-Steven Universe Future, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:27:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 44,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24990790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salacommander/pseuds/Salacommander
Summary: "It's time to go."“Pearl.”Lapis closed her eyes, refusing to get teary herself. Her grip now tight on Pearl's shoulder, she shuddered, deciding to just say it. Blunt and straight. Wasn't it supposed to be simple? Wasn't it supposed to be easy? It was. It should be. Yet here they were. Alone. Together. Alone together. Maybe forever. She opened her eyes, staring directly at Pearl's. Pearl refused to look at Lapis, looking over her shoulder instead."There's no one else."-A small change can make much bigger changes happen; one small incident can have a big impact on the future. When the choices of our characters lead to their ultimate defeat, they're left with only one option.With the power of time in their hands, can the gems fix everything before it's too late?
Comments: 18
Kudos: 39





	1. Going Back

**Anything For Them**

_“Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.” – Henry Van Dyke._

**Chapter 1**

* * *

"It's time to go."  
  
Pearl didn’t respond, continuing to input data and read incoming ones from the military-grade monitors in front of her. The multiple monitor setup was all hooked up to a very powerful computer within a command tent. Directly outside the tent was the communication hub. Recent advancements in technology allowed them to safely and reliably gather and input data from gem through human mechanics.

“Pearl.”  
  
Once again, there was no response from the gem, obviously too engrossed with the computer in front of her. Pearl was staring straight at the monitor, inches away from it. The communication hub wasn’t damaged nor was the computer. They made sure that it was nigh impossible for natural causes to render this system unusable. So why wasn’t she getting any response? She was able to send out constant pulses out to the galaxy yet no one was responding. Where was the backup that they so needed?

Someone rolls a chair next to her, slightly tensing when she felt a hand on her shoulder. 

Pearl wasn't sure what to do nor what to say. She was lost and confused, not knowing the next steps they should be taking. The next steps she should be taking. At least the hand on her shoulder and its owner was a comfortable, trustworthy presence. "I'm not getting anything.” According to the computer, everything's working fine. I mean, it looks fine to me, right?" The constant pulses of light from the tower was solid proof that it was indeed working. "The distress signal's sending. Is the problem on the receiving end? Is this a glitch? Did we mess something up?" Pearl's tone of voice would constantly go higher, her breathing becoming more taxing, more frantic.

"Pearl." Lapis' free hand would go up to her cheek, turning her to face herself. Lapis would normally react- maybe her face would twist with disgust. Maybe she'd sneer from Pearl's weakness. Maybe, maybe and maybe. Now was not the time though. Her friend needed her. Pearl looked like a wreck with dark bags under her eyes. Her tears never seemed to dry up, yet they never seemed to drop as well. Everyone felt too exhausted to cry heavily anymore. Everyone was worn out to do much anymore as well. Lapis could sugarcoat her response to make Pearl feel better. That would mean she was lying though. Even if it meant she was hurt by the veracity of it- even if they both didn't believe it themselves, one of them had to say it. They had to face the cold, undeniable truth. 

Lapis closed her eyes, refusing to get teary herself. Her grip now tight on Pearl's shoulder, she shuddered, deciding to just say it. Blunt and straight. Wasn't it supposed to be simple? Wasn't it supposed to be easy? It was. It should be. Yet here they were. Alone. Together. Alone together. Maybe forever. She opened her eyes, staring directly at Pearl's. Pearl refused to look at Lapis, looking over her shoulder instead.

"There's no one else."

Pearl shook her head, standing up, removing her lab coat and lenses, abruptly dumping them on a table to leave the tent.

* * *

The butterfly effect is the idea that small things can have non-linear impacts on a complex system. The concept is imagined with a butterfly flapping its wings and causing a typhoon. ... Simple systems, with few variables, can nonetheless show unpredictable and sometimes chaotic behavior. 

Simple actions and decisions serving as catalysts leading to chaos. 

It should have been amusing how humans were able to theorize these things. It should have been. Now, it wasn't funny anymore. Not when said theory was shoved right in her face.

Pearl was now outside of the command tent, looking at the communication tower looming over them. It was beautiful. Currently, her thoughts are in turmoil. Add stress and emotional instability and you get chaotic disorder. 

Lapis followed suit, wearing a specialized camouflage piece able to change colors based on their environment. Hands in her pockets, she strolled up next to Pearl.

"You're supposed to be wearing your camo, you know?" She wasn't much of a conversationalist. She didn't talk then and she sure wasn't talking much now. Lapis tried though. She had to. 

Pearl glanced at Lapis for a moment before turning her attention back to the tower. "I know."

If Lapis noticed that there was a double meaning behind what she said, she didn't say anything about it. A quick glance on her watch showed that they were a few minutes late already. 

"We need to go. They expected us in Alpha 5 minutes ago." 

"Alright." A sigh from Pearl was heard before they both walked back to the command tent. The mood was painfully forlorn. They couldn't do anything about that as well. If the others were here, it'd be less heavy. Pearl and Lapis in the same room together wasn’t necessarily a party.

They entered the tent, Pearl immediately heading to her bag to grab her camouflage. Lapis just stood on the warp pad, waiting for her to finish putting on her suit. Once she was done, she stepped on the warp pad as well. Lapis didn't trigger it yet though. "You can always talk to me, Pearl." She didn't expect her to reply. Not now, nor anytime soon. She'd been nearly silent for almost a century. 

Pearl once again glanced at Lapis, a look of discomfort drifting over her face before steeling herself to look away. 

Lapis triggered the warp pad to Alpha base. What she didn't expect though was what happened afterwards. Nothing. The warp pad didn't activate. "It isn't working?" She was confused, as the warp pad was working fine just this morning. It was also fine the last few decades as well, so why wouldn't it work now?

"Let me try." Pearl offered. She frowned as well when a similar result occurred. "Weird… There isn't supposed to be a scheduled maintenance repair today right?"

"Not until next month, I'm sure." Lapis replied, darker thoughts churning through her mind. Trying to remain positive, she nodded at the computer. Pearl went to the computer without hesitation, opening the direct communication tab to Alpha base.

_CHTR: Warp pad's down on your end. Reactivate now. That's an order._

_ABR: …_

_ABR: …_

_ABR has gone offline._

Pearl and Lapis looked at each other, one face displaying horror, the other one displaying irritation.

"Damn it. They're playing this god damn prank again. They think they're funny?" Pearl was positively livid. The last two times they played this _funny_ prank, Lapis had to fly hundreds of kilometers with Pearl on her back and two bags of personal equipment. Suffice to say, both gems were pretty angry afterwards. The soldiers back at base promised after the second prank not to do it again. While Pearl paced around the tent, Lapis distinctly heard 'idiots' repeatedly from her mutterings. She wasn't sure if Pearl said clod or she was just imagining things.

Lapis though wasn't sure what to make of this situation. She could shrug this off as a prank but a niggling feeling at the back of her gem told her otherwise. If this wasn't a prank, then what could it be? Power outage? No. A military base would have backup generators for backup generators. Systems were down? Unless there was an attack…

"It's an attack." Pearl abruptly stopped pacing the room to look at Lapis with a glare.

"Don't be silly Lapis. If _they_ decided to attack now, we'd know. Remember, we prepared for this. As soon as anything enters the atmosphere, the guys back at base would find out. If this was an attack. We'd know…" Pearl hesitated not knowing what to make of this situation. If it was an attack, then why wasn't anyone calling for backup?

Attack or not, both of them could agree that something happened back at Alpha base. 

Pearl looked at Lapis with pity as she prepared for the flight ahead. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Lapis simply looked at Pearl with a blank face, rolling her eyes. "I flew from Earth all the way to Homeworld in record time. What're you talking about?" 

The moments she could make the other gem smile were the moments Lapis cherished the most. 

* * *

Shapeshifting for Pearl was a finicky subject. She rather preferred not to shapeshift unless it was absolutely necessary. It was why she used this power infrequently, surprising many of her allies that she could even shapeshift in the first place. Of course, most gems had this ability. What defined this ability for Pearl was purpose. If she had no purpose, then there was no point in using the power.  
  
Pearl in her default form was roughly 6 feet. A perfect height for all pearls. It would pose a problem then if she was exactly as tall as Lapis. Where would she grab on if she was just as large as her? In most ways, she’d end up hindering Lapis’ ability to let her wings propel them. It was why everytime she had to use the Lazuli Airline, she shrunk herself to around 4 feet- about as tall as a human child.   
  
Lapis couldn’t help but be amused. Small Pearl had both backpacks on her, one in the front and the other in the back. Her small height and stature, the overly large backpacks and her angry glare made it so much harder to stay serious in this situation, regardless if the base was being attacked or not.   
  
Lapis had to cover her mouth with both hands as Small Pearl was just so innocent. Angry Pearl was a pain in the ass to be with. Angry Small Pearl was a heartwarming bundle of condescending joy. She even attempted to use her water wings so that Small Pearl wouldn’t see the tears attempting to leave her eyes.   
  
“Don’t you dare laugh Lazuli. I’m your only passenger so unless you want to keep your business running, I suggest giving me _respect._ ” Pearl said, unable to do much movement as the backpacks were hindering her movement. She could only move her hands from her sides up and down. She was in A-pose limbo, essentially. “Haven’t you seen me like this already? I swear I rode you too many times to count already.”   
  
“I know. Never gets less funnier though.” Pearl only rolled her eyes, raising her hands to her side so that Lapis could grab her already. “Come on then. We don’t have all day.” If only Pearl’s voice would mimic that of a child’s…   
  
She would wrap her arms around Pearl’s, hoisting her up to a rock so it’d be easier for her to strap her in. A few moments of tying a rope around Small Pearl to herself insured that she wouldn’t fall. Well, the bags were hooked to her, and Pearl was hooked on to the bags. If Pearl fell, then it’d be her fault for not securing herself.   
  
“Ready?” Pearl nodded with the best she could have done in the situation she was in. “Ready as ever Lazuli. To Alpha Base.” It was practically tradition to simulate themselves in an actual aircraft. Without further ado, she took off.

Lapis couldn’t help but remember the one time where she actually failed to secure Pearl, having to scour a few miles of Atlantic ocean to find her. “That’s _Captain_ Lazuli to you passenger.” She could already see Small Pearl’s glare. “You wouldn’t.” It would be at that exact moment where they’d experience some _unexpected_ turbulence.   
  
“Maybe.” That was all Lapis said to warrant enough fear in Pearl to just abide by her wishes.   
  
“Fine… _Captain_ Lazuli.” Lapis grinned cheekily, rarely ever able to best Pearl in any sort of competition. “That’s a good passenger.” 

The rest of the trip was quiet. They were always like that. Outside of missions, they could be as emotional as they got. During one though, it _usually_ was the opposite. They weren’t exactly like robots during times of seriousness. They were just less… excitable. It had been a few minutes since their departure from the communication hub. Two more minutes and they’d be there at Alpha base, located in some remote location in Antarctica.   
  
“What if we lost?” The question was so out of the ordinary that Pearl wasn’t sure what to say or do. They lost? Did they? They never lose… It only took a matter of time before things were better again. “Pearl. We’re sending distress calls out into the universe and no one is responding. It’s only a matter of time before we lose too, just like everyone else.”   
  
“We can’t. We can’t lose now. We’ve gone through so much- just for us to lose now?” Lapis stayed quiet for a few moments, only the rushing wind audible between the two of them.

Down below this cliff, Alpha base was visible. It was only a few kilometers away, visible with binoculars. Pearl unstrapped herself from her binds before setting the backpacks on the floor, immediately going back to her normal form. She stretched her arms, loving the familiar feeling of holding a form without straining to keep it up.  
  
“We can’t lose Lapis. We’ll just keep trying and trying, over and over again.” She hefted her backpack over her shoulders, tossing Lapis’ hers. “If things _do_ go bad… we can always try again.” She and the other gems discussed this already. Backup plans, contingencies, escape routes. They had little to slim but never none. There was always one available backup when the worst of the worst happened. When failure was inevitable, they just had to try again.   
  
Lapis didn’t like plan Z. It was unnatural and maybe even foolish. She’d gladly do any other plan than plan Z. Pearl was right though. If they really were at the end of the line, they just had to go back. Try again. Over and over if necessary. She took out her binoculars, crouching on a ridge, peering at the base through the powerful lens. What she saw was horrific.   
  
“Pearl. They’re here.”

* * *

Ruby was absolutely furious. When was she ever not though? A massive coordinated attack on 3 of their primary bases led to them being absolutely overwhelmed within less than an hour. Somehow and someway, they were able to bypass their defense systems completely. At least about a few hundred managed to make it out alive. The rest, including her, were either killed or kept prisoner. 

Ruby didn't know who was luckier, the ones being held prisoner or the ones being killed. The ones on death row were mostly human soldiers- essentially useless to _them._ Of course, they'd see humans as mere bugs instead of actual people. It was a sickening truth.

She couldn't look away when Jasper, that son of a bitch, made the human skull look like a balloon, the body of the soldier immediately going limp. 

Jasper merely laughed at the furious expressions of the three gems they managed to take prisoner. A Ruby, a Nephrite squad leader and a Jasper. All of them were defects. The chains they were in disabled most gem powers meaning they couldn't escape through shapeshifting. Even if they _were_ free, all of them knew that Jasper could have beaten them to shards.

"Beautiful isn't it? Red on white?" Jasper looked around, admiring the view. Many human corpses littered the ground, blood leaking into the snow. It was so bright and so vivid. You couldn't help but look. "Where's the rest of you?" 

Ruby looked to her left, spotting Nephrite. She was calm, adopting a contemplative expression. She glanced to her left, seeing Biggs trying but failing to break out of her chains. All of them were veterans. They knew that all of them would get shattered rather than reveal sensitive information.

"Burn in hell Jasper." Jasper glanced at the small Ruby in the middle, smiling smugly. "Something seems wrong… You're missing a piece. Oh! That's right. Your precious little Sapphire- shattered." She laughed maniacally as the small gem burst into flames, basically frothing at the mouth. It was too easy.

Jasper looked at the other Jasper, the defective one. It was disappointing. Disgusting even. A _Jasper_ , part of the crystal gems? Why would anyone even lower themselves to such depths? She snarled, unable to even think of being near this one. With a press of a button, Biggs screamed in pain before her physical form dissipated, the gem dropping into her hands. 

"Where's the rest?" She approached the remaining two gems, showing off the small gem in her hands. When none of them seemed to answer, Jasper didn't hesitate to strengthen her grip. It would be Biggs final moments before being shattered. “No more resurrections.” Without a constant supply of the Diamond’s healing essence, they quickly ran out. Biggs was gone.  
  
Ruby realized that chances of survival were slim. Whoever would be picked afterwards would likely be their last moments as well. Her fire would dissipate as she looked at Nephrite with a knowing look. It was moments like this where Ruby needed Sapphire. She needed her guidance. What was she supposed to do? Would she offer herself up instead? Would she snitch on Pearl and Lapis’ location? Ruby didn’t know. She wished that she was still here. It would be a lot more bearable with her around.   
  
Nephrite looked at her commander, determined to have some dignity in what would most likely be both of their final moments. “I live and die by your order, Commander Ruby.” She nodded at her commander, shouting in pain when the rope around her turned on, poofing in a few moments. “Last chance.” Jasper fully expected Ruby to chicken out right now. After all, these crystal gems were known to do anything to save the lives of others, regardless if it was pointless or not. 

Ruby didn’t say anything and kept her chin up, still staring Jasper straight in the eyes. Jasper was so furious that she didn’t even notice that she’d shattered the second gem in anger. Before she could say anything, a small thump behind them immediately made Jasper turn around. It was Lapis. She _was_ right. Lazuli was walking straight to her death.   
  
Immediately taking a defensive stance, Jasper snarled at the other gem. She moved away from Ruby slightly just in case something went wrong with the ropes. Lapis was dangerous, but Jasper was stronger. She was always stronger. “You can’t defeat me, no matter how hard you try. You never will.”   
  
Lapis merely shrugged. “Maybe. I just needed you to move a little.” Jasper would have no time to react before she would be hit directly in the gem with an extremely fast .50 caliber bullet, shattering before she could even think of it.   
  
Lapis went to work, grabbing the device from the ground to deactivate Ruby’s restraints. Immediately, she rushed to Lapis, hugging her briefly before kneeling on the ground to grab the shards. Lapis knew they were compromised. It only solidified the feeling when she had to duck to avoid getting hit by a plasma cannon blast. She had a dilemma on hand. Let Ruby get the shards with a high chance of getting caught or run. Ruby was too distracted to make a decision.   
  


It was painful but she knew what she had to do. She swooped Ruby into her arms, spreading her wings, immediately taking to the air. Ruby was so stunned at first that she could only look at the shards she dropped getting smaller and smaller. “Let me go Lapis!” Ruby attempted to squirm out of the position she was in but failed. She didn’t want to hurt Lapis but at the same time, wanted to go back down there to get their friends back. “Lapis. Please! They’re still down there. We can’t leave them behind!” Ruby stubbornly persisted, half-heartedly trying to break out of Lapis' strong grip.  
  
Lapis wasn’t able to wipe the tears that were beginning to build up. "I'm sorry. I can't lose anyone else."

* * *

Lapis didn't know where to go. Alpha, Beta and Charlie base were compromised. The survivors who fled from said bases had nowhere else to go as well. Everyone had to fend for themselves. Even in these dark times, at least the crystal gems still had each other. 

The Sea Shrine was unknown to everyone except for the Crystal Gems. It was why it was the best last resort they had. There were only three gems alive who knew about it and all of them were in the same room.

Lapis and Pearl expected smaller problems than this. They expected more survivors. Pearl was even confident that there wasn't any need to use the term _survivors._ To _only_ get Ruby out of the wreckage of their base… It was heartbreaking. 

Coping mechanisms are the strategies people often use in the face of stress and trauma to help manage painful or difficult emotions. The three gems' coping mechanisms were vastly different from one another.   
  
Ruby literally vented. Due to her body’s capability of producing high amounts of heat and her emotional stability of a spoon, Ruby was a walking cherry bomb. She was a runaway cherry bomb. She screamed, tugged at her hair, kicked things in her way and left scorch marks on the floor. Sapphire used to have a theory that if Ruby got mad enough, she could sink all the way down to the earth’s core. Right now though, Ruby managed to somewhat keep herself in check, keeping the seat she was sweltering warm. She couldn't help but cool down whenever she thought of Sapphire. It was always her that made her emotional yet it was always her that made her feel better again. It was just who she was, who they were meant to be. Arms crossed, she just tapped her feet on the floor. She couldn't destroy anything or the temple would collapse in on itself. At least she got to smash the warp pad into oblivion.

Pearl multitasked and did chores. Back when the temple was still up, she constantly swept and tidied up anything she could see. That included Amethyst's room, whether she liked it or not. Now that she was in the Sea Shrine, she resorted to cleaning her rifle, along with sorting through all the contents in both her's and Lapis' bag. Sorting her own equipment was fine and dandy. Whenever she sorted Lapis' she became wary. Lapis allowed her to sort through her stuff as long as she didn't wreck her personal stuff. Still made her uncomfortable nonetheless. At least she was being productive. When everything was sorted, she couldn't help but tear up when she glanced over at Lapis' tablet and her tape recorder. Well, it was all Peridot’s… Pearl sniffed, rubbing her eyes as she suddenly felt extremely tired. 

Lapis brooded. She was tucked away in a shadow filled corner of the Sea Shrine, away from the other two gems. Sitting on the floor, her back was to the wall as she attempted to relax and calm down. At first, she looked up, hoping to see the beautiful sky and stars. Then she remembered they were hundreds of feet underwater with only one way out. She shivered before tucking her head between her knees, closing her eyes. Lapis didn't know what to do for herself. She usually ran away when it was too scary and dangerous. Now, there was nowhere left to go. Nowhere else to run to but everyone to run from. Maybe it was from stress. Maybe it was fear. Maybe it was exhaustion. Maybe it was eons of fighting. Whatever the cause was, Lapis fell asleep.

* * *

Ruby swung her legs over the floor, too short to reach it. Everyone seemed to have cooled down. Lapis was snoozing in a corner. She rarely fell asleep nowadays so it really said something that she'd fall asleep in an alarming situation with her fellow crystal gems. Trust was clear and prevalent among the three who remained.

She wasn't actively raging anymore, feeling the coolness of the Sea Shrine slowly coming back. Everyone got emotional whenever they were met with a problem. Wouldn't it be weird if some people stayed calm forever? In the end, no matter what happened, everyone manages to bounce back. She was rather proud of that. Now it only took her a few hours to vent out everything in her system when it'd take days in the past. Peridot's idea on her taking anger management classes really paid off.

Ruby wanted to be productive. Plan their next step, arrange any equipment that Pearl hadn’t already sorted. They couldn’t exactly do that with one gem sleeping her worries away and the other having all sorts of other problems.

One gem though seemed unable to move past the emotional stage. Pearl continued to clean and sort the equipment, regardless if all of it was already in perfect, pristine condition. Her movements were frantic, sometimes even jittery. Add some tears into the mix and you get this: a broken, traumatized pearl. Ruby wasn't the best in these kinds of situations. She wasn't supposed to even think of these things. Then again, she was many things she wasn't supposed to be. They all were. Maybe it was bad. Maybe they were wrong. In the end, regardless of purpose, they still had each other. Ruby had to try no matter what.

Ruby scratched her head, thinking of a way to cheer up Pearl regardless. It was rather hard yet it was necessary. Ruby distinctly remembered Dr. Maheswaren noting that Pearl had all matters of trauma and mental, psychological damage. They were able to hash it out and she visibly improved after a few sessions. A boost to all their social lives made it seem like everything was getting better. That it truly was their happily ever after. They couldn’t be more wrong. Everything that happened within the current century hit everyone hard. Ruby knew though that Pearl was one of the ones who was hit the hardest.   
  
How would she approach this? Other people would approach this through words and wisdom. Though Ruby wasn’t a gem of words, she sure was a close friend who _understood._ It was better that she just be there for Pearl, rather than try to understand. She got off the bench, approaching Pearl before kneeling on the floor in front of the equipment she was sorting. Ruby chose to stay silent and wait.

Pearl wasn't crying anymore. She wasn't in tears. She didn't look like an emotional wreck. What she did look like was something else. Tired from the constant fighting. Confused from the lack of progress and success. It just looked like she was depleted. After eons of living a life full of fighting and pain, Ruby wasn't surprised. Pearl got a distant look on her eye. "It feels just like yesterday that the Crystal Gems were fighting for a righteous cause yet it feels like it was so long ago as well…" Pearl stopped talking for a moment, burying her face in her hands. "Where did it all go wrong…?" She looked up, facing Ruby. "Were we wrong? Were we the wrong ones all this time?

Ruby rubbed her neck for a moment before cupping Pearl's hand gently with hers. "I don't think about right or wrong that much… Some would say that we're wrong because we fight and hurt others. Some would say that we're good using the same logic. What I'm saying is…" Ruby didn't know how to properly word it so she decided to use an analogy. 

Ruby was at a loss of words. She sighed deeply, then regained her composure.

“Think of it like this…” Ruby said, after grabbing what little thoughts she could muster from her wracked up mind. She had to search deep in her memories, revisiting moments she wished she had forgotten. “When I first fused with Sapphire,” she croaked, barely managing to fight back tears at just the mention of her name, “nobody thought it was right, we were looked down at like… like we were freaks. Well, at the time, I can’t say I didn’t either, I mean a ruby with a sapphire?” She managed a chuckle. Pearl stared deeply into her eyes, confused, searching for meaning, listening.

“Cross-gem fusing was impure to Homeworld, but that didn’t stop us, did it?” she resumed, her thoughts becoming clearer in her head as she continued to speak, the thought of Sapphire helping ease her built up tension. “Nobody would ever think a ruby could fuse, _should_ fuse for that matter, with anything other than a ruby, yet when we formed Garnet, it just felt…”

“It felt?” Pearl asked, sounding a bit more hopeful.

“It felt… right! Garnet was the best thing that ever happened to me, Sapphire was the best thing that ever happened to me.” Ruby smiled, tears streaking down either side of her cheek. She laughed, almost hysterically, but with a hint of joy and pride in it

“I guess what I’m trying to say is,” she continued, wiping off her tears with the back of her hand, “it doesn’t matter what other people think is right and what’s wrong; what really matters is that we _know_ in our hearts, that it’s right. What matters is that we know that what we’re doing is ultimately _good_ , even if it might seem that the whole world, the whole universe is against us.” 

Pearl sighed. Ruby frowned a little, seeing how Pearl wasn’t taking her message to heart. “Look, I know we’ve done some pretty shady things in our past, a lot of shady things.” She sat down beside Pearl and stared existentially at the palms of her hands. “Sometimes even I second-guess myself, not knowing if what I’m doing is really the right thing. When I lost _her_ , I haven’t felt more lost in my entire life. But, thinking about everything we’ve been through, all the good we’ve fought for, I know in my heart that we’re the right ones. What we’re fighting for, it’s worth it, even if we have to fight the entire universe, we keep fighting. You know why?”

“Why?” Pearl responded. 

“Because we’re fighting for what’s right.” Looking back at Pearl, Ruby mustered an empathetic smile and hoped she brought her message across clearly.“Heard that it’s better to do stuff with friends than being alone.” She offered, trying to make the mood less heavy. It was about time that they’d try to be happy, maybe just for a short time. Sure, they’d never forget their losses. They couldn’t dwell so much about their tragedies that they’d lose themselves too.

“No…” Ruby’s grin fell slightly, thinking about what she’d done wrong. Was she too straight forward? Was she too cheery that it came off as weird and insensitive to Pearl? What did she do? Pearl must have read her face like a book though as she suddenly shook her head. “I didn’t mean it like that… I meant lets do something else. I don’t think these equipment need anymore cleaning anyway.” And for once through this whole ordeal, it made Ruby happy that Pearl managed a small grin. These small victories were worth it all the way through.

* * *

Lapis expected dreams. Nightmares, really. Everytime she slept, there was an exorbitant chance that she experienced a nightmare. She constantly had to relieve her past. She saw her mistakes play over and over in an endless loop. She could feel her friends leave one by one as she saw them die right in front of her. Needless to say, Lapis didn’t sleep much nowadays. 

Today was an exception. It was one of those off days where being awake was worse than being asleep. That said something as she normally didn’t even want to think of her nightmares- much less face them. Was it the soothing nature of the temple? The soft, sweet silence of the environment around her? Was it simply pure exhaustion? Whatever the cause was, she fell asleep.   
  
As expected, the dreams came. They always came. They’d never stop. What she didn’t expect though was this.   
  
_The soft breeze hit her face, soothing her even more. The normally annoying bird chirps now sounded as if they were harmonizing- in tune. The swishing and gurgling of the small stream down by the hill kept her in place. It was beautiful. It was relaxing. She could just let herself stay on top of this corn dome forever. Nothing to do and nothing to worry about, all responsibilities and duties thrown out of the window. She could be herself. She could feel free without spreading her wings._ _  
_ _  
_ _“Hey, Lazuli!” The voice was hazy. It was quiet and very unnoticeable. It was a needle in a haystack of all of these melodic tunes. The crackling of the wind hitting leaves were too sharp and relaxing to take her attention away that the voice was quickly deafened out. She didn’t want to hear any of it either way. She was at peace._

 _“Hey Lazuli!” Once again, the voice was heard. It was a noise- a distraction in her place of solace. A trick to make her get up. She was not going to get up. She was already in heaven. There was no need to open her eyes. There was no need to use her ears. There was no need to see. There was no need to listen._ _  
_ _  
_ _“Hey! Laaaazuliiiiiii!” There it was again. A sharp ping in the distance. Noticeable- deadly. The sound was so out of place. The voice was not welcome. In her sanctuary, no one and nothing could disturb her. She came here to relax. She came here to forget- to release all the tension. She came here to be free of her thoughts. She came here to be her. She came here to forget. The birds, the leaves, the wind were in harmony. It was beautiful. She could just stay here forever. The voice that kept on badgering her, the voice that kept on annoying her to no end. She wanted it to leave. She wanted it to go away. She didn’t want to face anyone. Especially not her._ _  
_ _  
_ _So be it._ _  
_ _  
_ _Without warning, the chirps of the birds, the soft wind hitting her face as well as the scraping of the leaves all went away. They all left. All of them. There was no more soothing harmony, no more ambient, radiant noises of nature. What was left was dreadful silence. Everything felt so heavy now. Without anything to distract her, she was left with this- silence. Silence and only silence remained. What did she lose by trying to forget? Everything. Everything except silence. Her voice that remained so out of place- so sharp and irritating yet so… right. It was everything. She was everything. She was the chirps of the birds, annoying or relaxing nonetheless. She was the soft wind helping her to stay calm. She was the stream that kept her steady. She was the leaves that shaded her from the harsh sun. She was everything to her. She was._ _  
_ _  
_ _Now she was gone. All that was left was silence. Once you made everything go away, there was no way to get them back. It was like that. Unfair to the very end. She couldn’t do anything. She wished she could. She couldn’t._ _  
_ _  
_ _The silence was sickening. It didn’t feel right. It never felt right. No one gets used to the silence after being exposed to the beauty of everything else. Silence was nothing. Everything else was something. In the end, everything but silence stayed. She wished it wasn’t true but it was. There was nothing she couldn’t do._

_“That’s okay. Everything’s going to be fine.” The voice was hazy. The voice was sharp. It felt like it was her own but it felt like it wasn’t at the same time. She was confused. She was in pain. This felt different. There were no birds. There was no stream. There were no leaves. There was no wind. It was just her and the voice. It was relaxing. It was painful. It was soothing. It was heavy. It was just her and the voice._

_“Everything’s going to be fine.” She could shove the voice away. She could ignore it. She could simply forget. She could tune it out, just like the other undesirable, painful tunes. She could have done all of that. But she didn’t. For once, she listened._

_  
_ _“I’m with you.”_

Lapis opened her eyes, everything around her hazy as usual. Waking up was always weird. This time though, it felt right. Despite the haze, she remembered. She chose to remember. It was only then that she noticed the tears on her cheeks. She wasn’t crying because of fear. She wasn’t in tears because of pain. It was because she was happy. She closed her eyes once again, smiling.  
  


“I know.”

* * *

Ruby and Lapis sat down on the same bench, both listening to Pearl’s in-depth one time class on time travel. Ruby was cross legged, using her hands as support for her chin. Lapis was sitting down, back to the wall, one leg over her knee. It was hard to say who was the more enthusiastic listener. Was Ruby the enthusiastic student or was it Lapis? It was impossible to say. Each of them had their own tablet to input any notes they found important. Ruby’s had doodles of clocks and arrows. Lapis only had TIME TRAVEL as the title, nothing else.  
  
Pearl though didn’t mind, whether or not they were listening was out of the question. She knew that both of them were listening. The plan they were about to undergo was literal life or death. It would simply vary between their interest in the actual topic itself. Planning would be later. She was simply teaching her fellow gems the basics on concepts of time travel. 

“Time travel is a topic often argued by human professionals to be either impossible or possible. The former is incorrect as we have already managed to be able to use time to our benefits. Gem ships use these to travel faster than the speed of light.” Pearl and Ruby would distinctly remember being stuck in the Ruby ship, their physical forms unable to keep up with the sheer speed of the unstable travel method Steven actually inputted. Their reactions differed. Pearl was ready to throw up from the _weirdness._ Ruby had a blast, feeling like she was a comet drifting through the cosmos. Maybe they did look like weird comets. Would people from outside have been able to see them? That was a question for a later date.   
  
“Never before though has this technology been used to travel _back_ before everything happened.” Pearl would then pull out a pointing stick, using it to point it to a diagram on the whiteboard. “Before I discuss what method I _think_ we will be going through, let us first talk about the difference between parallel universes and time travel.” She would point to a straight line. “The parallel universe is a destination. You could argue that it is time based on the laws of relativity, yet when using a time machine, it would be prudent to say that it is a destination. It will be our _final_ destination.” Pearl pointed her pointy stick at a picture of a curved line pointing to another straight line. “Time travel is a device. It is a method. For us, it will be our mode of transportation. To sum it up, we are using the time machine as transportation to travel to a parallel universe which is our destination.”

Ruby nodded, drawing the diagram that Pearl drew onto her own tablet. It was less organized though as she decided to also add pictures of spaceships and the three gems on it. Pearl was a lanky, stick figure pointing her sword to the stars. Ruby was the best looking out of all of them, sporting a cowboy hat and boots. Lapis was a blue blob that seemed to be slouched, not at all caring.   
  
Lapis raised her eyebrow, attempting to wrap her head around the topic. It seems simple enough. Seemed. Yet they were about to attempt a feat that no one else has done in recorded history. Time machines did exist yet few knew what they actually did. It worried her about the possible consequences of such a task. She glanced at Ruby’s drawing, seeing the cute figures. A flash of horror would be seen on her face as she imagined said stick figures dissolving into the murky depths of space. Pearl would notice this, tilting her head at Lapis’ incoming question. “What if it doesn’t work? What if… we mess something up and we all… you know, die?” The last part sounded like a statement more than a question.   
  
“Well…” Pearl took a few moments to think about it, twirling her pointy stick in between her fingers like a professional. Scrap that- she wasn’t imitating a professional, she was one. Pearl would then erase the white board before redrawing her diagram, this time even more simpler than the last. “I’m not worried about the journey. Like I said, we use similar technology on our ships. The Diamond ships took mere seconds to travel billions of light years across the universe. It could be theoretically said the same with warping, as warping from Homeworld to earth is fairly quick too. Safe to say, we have mastered faster than light methods of technology.” She drew a circle at their destination, the parallel universe with the three of them in it. “In that universe, we never should have been there. By being there, we are already changing the events that are and aren’t in motion.” Pearl visibly hesitated, though eventually relented to continue. “That universe isn’t supposed to have us. With us in it, we may get some things better but we will no doubt make even more mistakes.”   
  
“What kind of mistakes?” Ruby asked, scrolling down to get more drawing space, this time drawing the trio in the new parallel universe. She would aptly listen to Pearl, eager to visualize whatever mistakes she would say.   
  
“Well then. Let’s focus first on us. The plan is to destroy the time machine ball as soon as we get there. If we _don’t_ destroy it, we might be tempted to jump and jump and jump every time we make a mistake. Fixing one mistake will inevitably create other deviations in the timeline, meaning more problems." Pearl thought of the possibility of other selves coming back to stop them and didn't rule it out. "If you remember what… Steven did." It was noticeably harder for Pearl to say his name. "His other selves went back in time to stop the original one, making so many Stevens fight each other. It is essential that we are the only _us._ As soon as we get to our destination, we will have to destroy it immediately so as not to be used again.

Ruby would copy the trio, pasting a second group with moustaches. Of course the villains would sport moustaches. Why wouldn’t they? “The other mistakes? I’m pretty sure we can handle ourselves.” 

“On the board, you can see _our_ timeline. Our decisions, our choices, our path. What we don’t see in this diagram are the gems and beings we interact with that we’ll change. Think about it.” She flipped the whiteboard to the clean slate opposite of the dirty one. “Let’s say we come across… Greg.” It was the first thing that popped up in her mind. She didn’t know why. “If we interact with Greg, we might cause other events, deviating from the original timeline. He might have never met the Crystal Gems. With just our presence, we change the lives of the beings around us and everything we interact with. We are unwelcome in that universe, yet we choose to change it.”

Lapis would have written down the names of enemies and friends that she knew. She pondered what it’d be like if they would suddenly just pop in front of them out of nowhere. It was an interesting thought. Accidentally landing in front of Jasper, she involuntarily shuddered, knowing that she might not be able to restrain herself even if it _wasn’t_ the Jasper she knew.   
  
Pearl would continue on, writing one word in the middle of the board. “Power. We would hold this power. We would have eons of knowledge no one else knows. We would be better suited, better equipped just because we have the power of time on our side. The choices we make and the decisions we choose could lead to millions of lives being saved… or destroyed. If we see something that benefits us, we won’t know how it’ll affect everyone else. We can dictate how we want everything to flow if we want to. We would be...Gods. Deities. Imagine… we could advance the technologies of the universe by thousands of years.” She pointed to the small ball on the table. “That is our ticket to this power.”   
  
“We’re an asset yet a liability at the same time.” Lapis murmured, her knee bouncing up and down slightly. Pearl and Ruby could only agree. Lapis would continue, making sure her input wouldn’t go unnoticed. She leaned forward, talking quietly yet firmly. “We can’t do that though. Our primary objective- the only reason we’re even here in the first place is because it’s our last choice. We lost. We lost the fight. We lost the war. Now here we are…” A deadly silence would fill the room; one could hear the water drops if you listened closely. “We’re going back to prevent this. Unnecessary bloodshed. Unnecessary wastes of resources. Unnecessary wars. We’re going back to prevent the worst. Once we do that, only then- only then can we make everything else better.” Lapis would lean back, crossing her arms. She’d raise her eyebrows when she saw the two gems’ expressions. 

Ruby’s jaw would be hanging out, not expecting such… words from Lapis. It was really weird whenever she took charge. She knew she had the capability. She just didn’t want it. Whatever her reasons were, Ruby couldn’t help but have more respect for the blue gem. It made her think of Sapphire. Sapphire’s ability to stay level-headed. Her compassion, her coolness… her everything. Ruby smiled as she remembered her. She smiled as she remembered everyone else too.  
  
Pearl would be impressed, a large smile on her face. It was really nice to see that she wasn’t the only one who contributed today. It really made her appreciate Garnet’s ability to lead and hold the team together and Amethyst’s uncanny ability to make the mood lighter while still spouting occasional moments of wisdom herself. She couldn’t help but miss everyone.

A short moment of reminiscing now done, they began to think on Lapis’ statements. Both of them reluctantly agreed that Lapis was indeed right. No matter their personal wishes, they couldn’t stray from the main goal.

Pearl nodded, satisfied with the results they had. “Now that we’re done with theory, let’s _actually_ move on to the plan.” A smug smile would form as she heard two simultaneous groans.

* * *

The three gems were now busy readying themselves both physically and mentally. All the equipment that Pearl had sorted was now being resorted based on their user’s preference. Anything they chose to carry on hand were the items they needed to use immediately upon landing. Everything else was put in Pearl’s space dimension.

Most of Ruby’s personal belongings were gone. The bags she kept them in were now surely under feet of rubble back at the base. Sure, it hurt that she’d never be able to get back that physical photo album. It was a good thing that they all unanimously decided to document everything on their screens. Even if she did lose her screen, she still had her friends. Her eyes would gaze to the ring on her finger. She also had Sapphire too.

Lapis still had most of her personal belongings. She really didn’t prioritize them though. The few items she still had that had any sort of value were already with Pearl. What she was focusing on was deciding whether to carry her modified destabilizer with her or just store it away. It was unlikely that they’d encounter anyone hostile anyway. Unlikely but not impossible. Her paranoia was eating away at her as she just couldn’t shake off that feeling that something was going to go horribly wrong. She knew that’d happen. She just didn’t know what. _That_ was bothering her. In the end, she decided to carry her destabilizer gun.

Pearl was a different case. Instead of packing, she was continuing to look over the plan drawn on the white board. It didn’t really mean much to her as she could summon the items from her gem rather quickly. It only became tedious when you had to pass around said items to other gems. That was the reason they had to consider if they’d hand carry it or leave it in Pearl’s gem. She pondered if she should input all of that data onto her screen. On one hand, they’d never forget the plans and could quickly look back at it if they needed. On the other hand, if someone else saw these plans… It was a difficult choice. Eventually, she relented and decided not to copy it. These plans were more or less objectives. These might not even be viable in the future… past if events changed enough. Time travel was a finicky subject. Trying to master it was impossible. 

It only began to dawn on each of them that they were about to go through this. Never in their lives did they think they’d do this. To think that they’d gotten this far from their intended purposes. It was astounding to think how their choices and decisions led them to this very moment. In the eons that these gems were alive, their paths intertwined here at the very end. Was it the very end? Technically, it was. They were going back to try and create a better future- a better life for everyone else. They had already failed this universe. The option of failure for their next step was non existent. They must not fail.

The Crystal Gems often undertook missions that were dangerous, life-threatening to the point of suicidal tendencies for good intent. They fought monsters, ensnared corrupted gems, rebelled against tyrannical authorities, sabotaged factories, killed fellow gems for the cause. All these sacrifices were made for their ideals towards betterment for the good of all. Even if sometimes, it didn’t feel right. Even if sometimes, it felt completely wrong… they did it anyway. They did it with pride and honor until the very end. The path they took and the decisions they chose, the friends they met on the way, the enemies they fought to a standstill, the lovers they lost, here they were at the finale, the conclusion of their path here. Here at the end of the road, they were going to pave a new road of their own. Shape it with their own will. Lapis, Pearl and Ruby were not here because they had to. They were here because they wanted to- as one whole. They knew that simply believing in a cause was not enough. To achieve change, one must fight for it- fight for it they did. They knew that change would not come with anyone else. They were the ones with the strongest wills so they must be the ones to put it into fruition. They are the change they chose to be.

Pearl, Lapis and Ruby looked at each other, sporting looks of determination. They were ready as they could ever be. They touched the hourglass ball together. In one unanimous boom, they spoke.  
  
“To the beginning.”

**Chapter 1 END**

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Constructive criticism is heavily appreciated. <3
> 
> Add me on Discord: Salacommander#3797


	2. To The Beginning

_“You tell them - you tell them there's a cost...Every decision we make in life, there's always a cost.”-_ _Brad Meltzer_

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Realism. Fantasy. The divide between these subjects are vague and hard to define. How does one know if one thing is indeed true? Do we see? Our vision can be easily tricked, from mere illusions to distortions in reality. Do we hear? Sounds are manipulable and malleable enough to make them unknowingly fake. Do we feel? The feelings that we experience are merely the sum of enforced beliefs, external manipulation, cognitive bias, and constant lies, therefore degrading its rationality. The questions that no one else asks because they’re simply too ludicrous and overzealous. Yet everyday, we seem to convince ourselves that everything is indeed real when we truly do not know. We choose to see, we choose to hear and we choose to feel what we want to. So what is the difference between realism and fantasy? It is the cost. There is no price to pay in fantasy. Reality is often disappointing for its costs. Nothing is free. No one is. All there is are costs so we choose to dip ourselves into the realm of the unknown, the land of the imaginary. We delve in dreams so lucid that we cannot mimic it from reality. Yet even here, we pay to imagine.

Dreams are not real. They are a simulation. If dreams are truly a simulation, then why are we afraid to see? Falling from terrifying heights in your dream is an awfully common event. It is simply so real, able to perceive it as reality that we immediately jerk awake, our physical bodies jolting in shock. The shock from a simulation; a simulation that we chose to see as reality. If we can so easily choose, then why can’t we choose from reality without paying a price? No one knows. Most are afraid to find out. Few dare venture to find answers the universe holds so closely dear.

What were they doing? Where were they going? Who were they? These thoughts barely processed in their mind as theirs struggled to comprehend the true reality they were in. Colors never seen before flew by them, from something to nothing, disappearing in the murky black of space. They were going fast. Faster than the speed of light. Faster than anything ever imaginable. So fast that the objects they drifted passed became blurs and stark lights on the dark, blank canvas. Lights stretched impossible lengths, seeming like they were endlessly being stretched into oblivion. They were going forward… or were they going back? It was hard to process rational thoughts when they saw _everything_. What would your reaction be for reality to be warped so differently- so wrongly that you are simply baffled and unmoving? They could not move yet because they were moving. They were stuck yet they were free-flowing. It was beautiful. Their physical entities could not comprehend anything it saw, for the body was simply too weak. Even bodies of light could not compare with the matter they were in. It was surreal to see what had never been seen before. It was astonishing to hear when there was nothing to hear. Everything they were doing was impossible. Yet they were doing it. They couldn’t possibly understand.

They felt so free. They felt so awake. They were doing nothing but moving through the cosmos at impossible speeds. Never before had they felt so unrestrained. To be without limitation and restriction was unimaginable. Their bodies were heavy, dull, and painfully solid. They were beings of light yet they had to lower themselves to create physical forms. They felt sick about even thinking of it. They understood nothing but loved it anyway. The lights and the flashes. It dragged on and on to nothingness, but they were something, so it was fine. All good things must come to an end though. The lines that rushed by them slowed down. The flashes of light suddenly became oppressive, swirling around them instead. They didn’t need to breathe yet it felt as if they were losing breath, losing life. It became harder and harder to think once again. Was it the darkness that pushed the light around them hurt? Or was it the light that pulled in the darkness that was painful? Such a fast stop was extremely jolting. Going thousands of times faster than the speed of light only to stop immediately was incomparable to anyone's imagination. The light wrapped tighter and tighter around each of them. Try as they might, they couldn't scream as they weren't real. Not yet anyway. What felt like hours to them when it was mere moments made it excruciating. But there was no time. There was only the next step. Who knows how long it actually was? No one knew. No one ever will.

Just like that, they quite literally popped into existence. They immediately fell down on whatever material they were on, too distracted to notice or even care. It was suffocating. Being stuck in a vacuum made reality feel so enclosed and suffocating. Maybe it was. The air was too dense and heavy. Their bodies were greatly sore and battered from traveling trillions of light-years. Finally _having_ a body to use felt sickening. It was restricting. They were in chains. The gravity's pull added up to the momentous list of things they weren't used to. They were tired. They were weak, battered, and bruised. It was too hard to process anything. A mixture of time-lag, sensory deprivation, sensory overload, along with dematerializing and materializing into the plane of existence led to three crippled, incapacitated gems. 

It was a shame. They didn't get to hear the screams.

* * *

“There is no point in invading this planet. Lacus-3 is a floating rock with no visible land. One whole ocean encompasses it to the point where we would have to either drain it completely or summon a squad of Lazulis to get that water and put it somewhere else. Most- if not all our Lazuli’s are _already_ assigned to several missions on different sectors around the universe. It would be extremely costly to transport them just for a single planet.” Blue Diamond would respond, showing multiple graphs on a floating screen, showing the statistics on Lacus-3. “I see no reason for this.”  
  
Yellow would wave her hand, dismissing Blue’s data. She would instead pull up her own screen, indicating a massive battle plan on a different planet. “I understand Blue. I truly do.” She would clasp her hands, leaning forward to zoom in on her screen, displaying two planets in the same solar systems. “The _reason_ we’re invading Lacus-3 is to use it as our nexus for an attack on the planet next to it, Lacus-2.” Multiple numbers and statistics would pop up on each of the diamond’s screens, displaying the projected numbers required to successfully storm the planet to achieve a near-impossible chance of losing. “While Lacus-2 _may be_ economically useless in the long term, once that water is gone, we can easily drain it of its resources and use it as a staging ground for an invasion.” She would stand up off of her throne, enlarging the screen in front of her and zoomed in on the hostile planet. “Attempting to attack this planet if we cannot even gain a foothold in this solar system will be stupid, costly, and frankly- disastrous. They are a type 1 civilization with a defense system strong enough to deter our landing ships. Losing ships and gems for a brute-force attempt on this planet will not be considered.”  
  
Blue sighed, rubbing her temples in frustration. She would swipe Yellow’s data away from the main screen and instead enlarged her own data on it. She could honestly be infuriating at times, always itching for conflict and war. Regardless of Yellow’s stance on their potential profit, she would always see it like that. Potential profit- nothing more. Unless they so desperately needed another planet to colonize, they could make due with the current ones and instead boost up production and efficiency rates. She thought it’d be better to simply improve on the stable ground instead of trying to make new ones. “We already have dozens of other colonies that we could be focusing on instead of attempting to mount a large-scale attack on some stupid planet. So let us say that we go for Yellow’s plan. What Yellow has been projecting on her screen has been the initial costs. There has been no projected data regarding long term costs and potential losses. This is what I expect our losses to be.” She would pull up a map of said planet, different locations having different statistics on casualties. “Approaching orbit will already have losses, as Yellow said. We will no doubt get a foothold. What we will struggle on is pushing them all the way back to submission. While we may be able to do that, the resources and gems required are simply not present!” Blue wouldn’t let Yellow waste Homeworld resources and gems for potential cost. She wanted solid evidence that they would indeed win, despite Yellow’s unusually high win rate. It didn’t mean that she couldn’t lose. “We can’t afford a war we don’t know we will win.”  
  
Yellow’s eyes narrowed for a moment, indicating that Blue hit a sore spot. She didn’t appreciate her fellow Diamonds to doubt her superior military prowess. Indeed, there was a _chance_ that the operation would go all for naught yet she picked said planet because she knew that it was possible and profitable. She wouldn’t deliberately pick a planet that was pointless or impossible to invade. That would be stupid. She was the iron fist of the Great Diamond Authority for a reason. Many good reasons for that. She could choose to get angry but knew that it would just make Blue’s points even better so she refrained and simply leaned back on her seat, pulling up a graph of their current resources. “Let’s say we _don’t_ fight this war. According to this graph, our total resources- without spending on anymore starting today, will last only several centuries. Centuries, Blue!” Her hands would flail, astonished at the fact that they had managed to somehow dig a hole this deep they were in, having resources for a few dozen centuries. “We don’t do action now, we may regret this later. Being able to take the only defender of this system will bolster our resources hundred-fold. It may take centuries, it may take sacrifice but I know that it will be worth it. That’s dozens of planets at our fingertips because we take out one. Losses are inevitable- yes- but standing around idly will do nothing but let them prepare for an attack.” She’d swipe the data away, leaving a blank screen. She would cross her arms, waiting for Blue’s response.  
  
Blue’s mind was furiously searching for any holes in Yellow’s argument. Going back to the topic of Lacus-3, invading that planet was relatively easy. Initial costs would be high, as they would need different gems to be able to terraform and prepare it for future Kindergartens. It would eventually bear fruit, and give them a heap of resources that were necessary to invade Lacus-2. Assuming they weren’t detected, then it’d be smooth sailing for that planet. They knew that Lacus-2 wouldn’t have the capability to constantly monitor a planet that’s very far relative to them. If operation Kindergarten was a success for Lacus-3, they’d be able to build a force strong enough to constantly supply the operation on Lacus-2. They would no doubt lose thousands of gems in the initial attack but would eventually overtake them. How much and how long? They didn’t know. It was always the unknown that Blue feared. She knew that Yellow feared it too. The Diamonds were successful because of knowledge. They were able to build their empire from the ground up because of planning and preparation. Whenever chance was added into the mix, they took it extra cautiously. It was why they were both feared and respected as the reigning leaders of the galaxy. Sitting on their high thrones was both a bountiful blessing and a horrid curse. Sometimes, it felt more like the latter and they all hated it. The pressure of expanding their empire, the face they had to show in public, the things they had to do… sometimes, during moments like this, they all felt it. It was seen in Blue's anger as she normally didn’t get angry. It was seen in Yellow’s posture as she normally didn’t slouch. White remained calm and silent, attempting to take it all in as well. Pink was well… doing Pink things. “White?” Blue would look at white, waiting for her input.  
  
White was silent. White was calm. In times like these, when Blue was visibly angry and Yellow was affected by it, she knew to stay calm. Being a Diamond wasn’t a simple task. It was far harder than complex could even come close to. There were too many factors and requirements to count on how one was to be a successful dictator. They had to have an iron fist. They had to be constantly vigilant. They had to show no emotion. They were fearless beings, seen as Gods by their people. They were the Diamonds. The Great Diamond Authority was a team. They could not operate with efficiency if one was disconnected. One strong chain was useless when a link was weakened. Each and every one of them was linked to each other. White believed that they were only successful because of each other. Her leadership, Blue’s intelligence, Yellow’s will, and Pink’s happiness all benefited one another. It was now her time to balance things out. It was her time to work. She clasped her hands, letting her gaze wander from Diamond to Diamond before settling on the screen in the middle. 

“For eons, we, ruling over Homeworld and its vast and ever-expanding universal empire, have brought upon order of the perfect kind – a quintessential power ruling above whom we deem inferior. The system that we have brought upon them eliminates these existential errors, stripping them of those that lean them towards weakness, impurity, and chaos, making them what I believe, truly better.” Her voice was soft yet somehow resonated like a boom within the massive room. “We are their salvation. We bring perfection throughout an imperfect universe. We must be the one, ultimate Authority. This is the resolve that we must scatter across the cosmos.” A pin could be dropped any moment and they’d all hear it.

“And we must bring this resolve for its preservation, even to those that defy us, in any means necessary to crush theirs and drive them out, even through centuries of war, that of which will exhaust them and expose their flaws we are meant to correct. We will carry this on until those who are left alive to bow down upon us while weeping over the remains of their fellows that dared fight for a lost cause of faulty independence.” The different diamonds showed different methods of acknowledging White’s powerful speech. Yellow’s fist was clenched while Blue displayed an aura of ease and calm which she hadn’t shown a while back. Pink’s attention was fully on White. Wasn’t that an amazing feat? “We must carry this on to prove once and for all, that our cause is one not of folly, but of destiny. We must fulfill what’s necessary so that our power is truly permanent, a mark of true perfection, standing over those that defy us and deny our cause, and we shall carry this on until we have reached the limits of this infinite universe until all have submitted to our one true order.”

It was a shame they got interrupted by a scream.

* * *

Pink was bored. Really, for the last few thousand years or so, she has been desiring to start a colony on her own. It really seemed so interesting at first, the concept, the idea. Taking random space rocks to create life truly sounded like an astonishing feat. The whole process sounded like a great idea, taking nothing to create something. Sadly, until now, it was just that- a concept and an idea. It wasn’t the same as seeing it on charts and screens. She wanted to see it for herself. She wanted to see the injectors creating life, she wanted to see gems pop out of the soil standing proud and ready. The things she wanted to do were many. At the end of the day though, despite her being a Diamond, those things would remain as ideas. 

Don’t discredit her though. She honestly tried. She observed Yellow’s attacks and invasions. She spent thousands of hours by her side, trying to make sense of battle plans, allocation of resources and weapons, and so much more. Yellow was decisive, aggressive, and did not hesitate to take action when it was required. Yellow seemed to have her own system on her work ethic. She was an excellent general evidenced by her constant success on the battlefield. It appeared simple yet Pink couldn’t help but be proud of Yellow that she managed to observe and implement all these ideas while managing her own colonies. Yellow was not a Diamond of patience though. She took most things seriously, micromanaging all her assigned duties while attempting to guide Pink through it. Despite being a near-perfect general, she was not a great teacher. She was far from it. Her lack of patience towards Pink’s attitude made it much more harder and difficult for both of them to do their jobs. It seemed that on the worst days, Pink just looked while Yellow didn’t even bother explaining. Pink’s notoriously short attention span along with Yellow’s short temper made the teacher-student duo not click. Yellow often enforced that failure was unacceptable yet not impossible. She constantly drilled in Pink that failure was grudgingly acceptable as long as you were able to gain knowledge and use it for success in the future. It irritated Yellow that Pink didn’t seem to understand.

Blue handled different aspects of Homeworld’s operation. She handled diplomacy, politics, economics, and made sure that everything from resources to population was monitored. If Yellow was the general, she was the politician. Pink wasn’t known for her knowledge on these topics though. While Blue was a far more patient Diamond than Yellow, she too had much on her plate. Constantly maintaining stability on Homeworld and the different colonies of the other Diamonds were tremendously harder than anticipated. With her assigned roles, it wasn’t surprising that she constantly butted heads with Yellow. Pink liked Blue’s method of teaching far better than Yellow’s. Instead of observing everything on screens and listening, she was given the task to help Blue. She had to monitor numbers, input data, make calculations, and make decisions from it. If there was leeway in failure under Yellow’s advisory, Blue’s was the opposite. Making a wrong calculation meant getting everything wrong. Making the wrong decisions, allocating wrong amounts in certain areas, choosing undesirable paths led to disaster. Blue was less accepting of failure than Yellow, as her roles dictate that she keep everything stable. One failure could lead to colossal instability and that was bad. For such an important job, Pink couldn’t help but feel disappointed at the lack of _anything_ happening. She guessed it was better than constantly dealing with problems. The point of Blue’s job _was_ to keep everything stable. She guessed she was doing good. It just wasn’t entertaining enough to actually warrant her attention. Often, Pink’s attention would slip away, leaving her in a state where she missed key parts in Blue’s lecture. She couldn’t always bring herself to make Blue repeat herself. Blue expected results from Pink. She expected numbers- statistical data that showed that Pink improved, yet she was a wild card. She was an unstable link in a system of chains. It irritated Blue that Pink didn’t seem to get better.

White was an enigma. The other Diamond’s personalities were much more noticeable- much easier to find out compared to White. Words were spread around, respects were paid and she was a glorified deity of her people. Yet she was almost never seen. Even the Diamonds would often not see her for extended periods of time. They looked and looked but they would never find her unless she wanted to be found. It was staggering how, despite how she had no public figure, she was still held as the most revered and respected Diamond. Pink would often ask White how she managed to elevate herself so high with all these feats. White would always smile, choosing not to say anything. It would leave all the Diamonds irritated but they didn’t push. They never did. White was their leader and no one ever doubted her. It would be heresy of the highest order to do so. While not being a charismatic leader, she got things done. From the early days of Homeworld, she led batch after batch of gems to victory. She managed construction, kindergartens, and all processes all alone. It was only after everything did she manage to sink her time into mentoring the rest of the Diamonds on the proper techniques and etiquette to rule homeworld. She was the image of perfection and all looked up to her. She was perfect. It was what everybody saw. It was what everybody was told. It was what everybody believed in. To this day, it stayed true.

Pink’s Pearl began to feel uncomfortable. She didn’t know what.it was. The stark contrasts of the Diamonds against the pitch black of the room felt oppressive. For some reason, they seemed to be much taller. As if they were towering over her, slowly growing taller and taller as they loomed over everyone else. Was she getting shorter? It couldn’t be. Her physical appearance wasn’t meant to change without her Diamond’s permission. That couldn’t be it. Why did it feel as if everything they were saying were growing more distant? It was weird. There had to be some sort of malfunction in her gem’s system. She’d approach Pink Diamond later regarding it for her to be checked upon. That would be best as it wouldn’t do to excuse herself right in the middle of a meeting between all the glorious Diamonds. It didn’t stop her condition from growing worse, wincing as she felt a particularly nasty jolt on her gem. The figures in her peripheral vision became hazy. It was so hard to concentrate. So hard to do her job of keeping track of the flow of the meeting that she had to look away from the screen for a moment, blinking her eyes to make it go away. It didn’t work. It wasn’t clear why this was happening. Her mind wasn’t clear. Her eyes had a distinct glaze in them as if she couldn’t focus on one object. She couldn’t. Not at all. The building pressure on her gem made it impossible to concentrate- to think. There was too much going on. Too much happening within. Constant probes would mess with her gem, feeling as if she was being crushed. Crushed, oppressed, pressured, pushed back. Fighting back was futile. There was an attempt to call Pink Diamond to help her, but it was all for naught as she couldn’t even mutter a sound. It came and it came. There was no stop. She just wanted it to stop. Make it go away. Make the ringing in her ears shut up. Make the darkness crawling around her to leave. She didn’t want any of this. Yet it kept coming and coming and coming. There was no end.  
  
She was in so much pain that she didn’t realize that she had fallen, knees first onto the floor, screaming without coherency.  
  
It was Blue Pearl that noticed first. Despite her quietness, she had a knack for displaying acute awareness. Pink Pearl looked to be in discomfort yet she herself couldn’t do anything. All of the Diamonds were too hooked on White Diamond’s speech to listen- much less care. What reason could she give to her Diamond to interrupt the meeting. _Pink’s Pearl looked to be in distress, My Diamond. Please excuse us._ It was laughable. She would be asking herself to a mountain of paperwork as punishment. Despite her soft spot for the other Pearls, she just couldn’t do much when she had her own duties to do. First and foremost, it was to serve. Serve she shall, continuing to stay silent, typing notes while keeping an eye on the other Pearl. She even forgot to draw this time. Her fears would be confirmed though when it happened. It was sad, really. It wouldn’t do to lose a second Pearl under Pink. She sure liked this one better as well.

* * *

It was a sharp ping in the middle of a beautiful speech. It was an off-note in the middle of a well-composed musical. It was jarring, tearing into the ears of those who heard, bouncing back and forth the enclosed walls of the high, spacious room. In a way, the sudden shock of the occupants in addition to the continued wails of one made its own composition in its own way too. Beauty was indeed subjective.  
  
Different reactions reigned across the room. Yellow had an irate look sketched on her face. The harsh, contrasting lines on her skin were more visible than ever. Her fists were clenched in- no doubt- extreme fury. The shine on her helmet seemed more glistening than normal, feeling extra sharp and deadly. Yellow was angry for a reason. To interrupt a Diamond- much less White Diamond herself was one of the greatest crimes one could commit. Where the anger was directed to, she wasn’t sure herself. Whether it was the Pearl, Pink, or both of them, she really didn’t care. White was _interrupted_. The price to pay was terrible.

Blue wore the face of exasperation. She was always the most theatrical among all of them, able to show a wide array of emotional skill set. The way she moved and felt along with the passion made her an intimidating gem. This time though, instead of Yellow’s unbridled fury, she instead displayed an aura of disappointment. One of her hands would go up to her forehead, leaning back as she tried to swallow in everything that had happened within the past few moments. It was all going so well. They were making leaps and bounds of progress. Even better was Pink’s attention towards the subject. She thought she was actually listening. Clearly, mistakes were made. She would close her eyes, shaking her head as she refused to acknowledge what had just happened. They were so close… She and Pink were going to have a talk later. 

It was White who had the least and most surprising reaction depending on how you thought about it. She didn’t even seem fazed. It was as if nothing had happened and she had finished her speech not without a screech but with finesse. She was in control of the floor and that was that. She had no visible reaction. There was no anger or disappointment. There was only a calculating look with a twinge of amusement. The other Diamonds were offended, no doubt about it. As usual though, White, the perfect leader she was, kept calm and professional. It wasn’t because she had to. It was because she _was_.

Pink was torn. A look of horror and confusion would creep up on her face, leaving her looking horribly unprepared for the situation at hand. To be fair, this _never_ happened before. It was times like these where she was forced to make priorities. Most of the time, her priority was her friends and family. Not how they saw and perceived her. Regardless of Yellow’s furious look, Blue’s disappointed gaze, or White’s aloof expression, the first thing she focused on was her Pearl. Without hesitation, she got off of her throne to kneel next to Pearl to see if she was fine.  
  
“Are you ok?” It wasn’t the most intelligent of responses when she clearly wasn’t. It was just harder to convey thoughts through words in intense, chaotic situations like these. Whatever came out of her mouth was more or less, emotion intensified, if that made any sense.  
  
Different reactions reigned across the room when instead of responding, she would begin to transmit a hologram from her gem.

* * *

What was more painful: getting squeezed into oblivion or being pulled and stretched to your very limits? It was poetic when stories from legend and myth become true. This time though, they had to experience this while traveling faster than the speed of light. Basically, it wasn’t easy; far from it. Pain, suffering, agony, torment- none of these words could show the indescribable pain the three gems were in.  
  
Lapis was unconscious. She herself didn’t know if she was awake or not. It was all too hazy and confusing to notice, much less produce rational thought. She saw lights swirling around her, heard booms of sound, felt the strain on her body, and the amount of distress she was in. Yet one could argue that you wouldn’t know. Who knows? These three were the only ones to know what they were going through. It was hard to find out reality between fantasy after all, especially when they dealt with fantasy in reality. Despite everything she was currently feeling, there was still one thought that popped up in her head. One rational thought to rule it all: _We made it_ . They made it, despite all the hurdles and obstacles.  
  
Pearl’s experience was completely different from Lapis’. Does one recognize pain when they are asleep? Does one recognize feelings to a clear extent when they’re unconscious? Does one feel at all during sleep? Sleep was finicky, especially with gems. They could do it but they didn’t need it. They could do many things but they don’t do it. When their bodies were extremely damaged, they didn’t get to the point where they’d become delirious because of the pain. They’d simply poof and be better than ever. It was a simple process, not one questioning it. Pearl though would be seriously questioning it now. She spasmed and twitched on the floor, fully awake, fully feeling, fully rational. There was so much pain, too much. She was a Pearl. She wasn’t meant to sustain this much pain. It was excruciating how she couldn’t just poof. There wasn’t enough physical damage to warrant a poof. She just laid on the ground writhing like a pathetic worm. A sharp jolt to her mind would make her body stiffen, her arms automatically clawing at her gem to force the weapon that pierced her away. Yet there was no weapon. There was no damage to her gem. It came from within. In her disarray, she wouldn’t notice that her gem was active. 

Ruby's job was to serve and protect. After thousands of years of fighting, it slowly changed. Instead of a Homeworld Gem, she became a Crystal Gem. She fought to rebel. In the end, her job was still to serve and protect. She just chose who to serve and what to protect in the end. It was a choice instead of an order and she was grateful for it. She was a common foot soldier but a foot soldier nonetheless. They were not easily poofed and would fight to the very end if it was so-called for it. It was why she was assigned to Sapphire. To protect her. To do her job. She was a soldier and a protector. Instead of falling to the ground in an undignified heap, she grit her teeth to attempt to get a bearing of her surroundings. Her ears were still ringing and her vision was too hazy and blurry to get up. She’d probably fall over so she stayed kneeled. A few moments were all that was required to steady herself. Slowly, she opened her eyes. The sight wasn’t good. Lapis was unconscious while Pearl was writhing on the floor. She chose to go to Pearl first, assuming that Lapis was fine either way. Crawling felt weird and alien. Having a body felt the same way too. Despite that, she strengthened her resolve and continued, ignoring the aches on her body, begging her to stop. She just went on. The ground was coarse so she had to put more effort just to reach her. Eventually, she did, essentially just falling on Pearl’s stomach to steady herself.  
  
“Get up, Pearl.” A raspy voice could be heard as if she hadn’t spoken in centuries. She’d be surprised if it wasn’t for the fact that they committed an impossible feat. Nothing was impossible anymore for them. She got off of her stomach and sat cross-legged on the ground next to her, just shaking her to hopefully help her snap out of it. She didn’t know what to do. It seemed that Pearl was unresponsive despite being awake. No matter what she did though, Pearl continued to act as if there was no one beside her. Grunting in annoyance, she resorted to waking up the other gem instead. There was no way she would be able to carry 2 gems. There was absolutely no way she was going to poof them either. Even imagining it felt disgusting to her. She shook herself to get rid of the thoughts in her head and just crawled to Lapis. She didn’t know what was worse, Lapis or Pearl. One was unconscious while the other was unresponsive. Maybe it was just better that she focused on helping the one she could. They’d deal with Pearl soon. Lapis would be first though. Once she was beside her, she pulled her so she’d instead be facing up instead of lying sideways. “Wake up, Lapis.” There was no response. She shook her gently, getting nervous with the results she _wasn’t_ getting. Once again, there was no response. Instead of trying a pointless tactic over and over again, she observed Lapis first. She was unusually pale, looking very tired. Ruby would look around her, spotting a grove of trees- a jungle and a body of water… Water! If anything could rejuvenate a water-based gem, it would be water. It was roughly 15 meters away. She groaned, irritated by the fact that they had to land so far away from water. At least there _was_ water. Ruby didn’t want to take this for granted. She would go behind Lapis’ head, grabbing her arms and starting to pull. She didn’t care how long it took and didn’t pay attention to the burning on her arms and feet. Just continue on pulling. She could lie to herself and say she was in worse situations than this. Maybe but not really. Instead of dwelling on if’s, she decided to just focus on the task at hand. It was a good thing that Lapis wasn’t heavy.

It took several minutes, yet it felt like an hour. All of their senses of time were so misconstrued that it was a large detriment to even think about it. They’d eventually get their normal perception back either way, so she decided not to think about it. The final pull and Lapis were fully underwater. Ruby stepped away, waiting to see if she would get up. A few seconds past. It was fine. A minute passed. She was probably just taking a bit longer than usual to wake up. Two minutes passed. Ruby’s feet would start tapping underneath the water, displaying anxiousness. Three minutes passed. She would start wondering if she had done something wrong. She should be fine, right? The water wasn’t supposed to harm her, it was supposed to heal and rejuvenate her. Four minutes passed. Before she knew it, she was instinctively pacing around the water, getting a bit edgy with Lapis’ long nap. Five minutes passed. She was so distracted with her own thoughts in turmoil that she was surprised and would have jumped in shock if she wasn’t aching so badly. A small splash would come from the blue gem. Ruby and Lapis stared at each other for a few moments, the former having her jaw hanging from wonder. Before Lapis could have a coherent thought, she was rushed by a small, furious gem, being enveloped in a hug. She winced in pain as Ruby tried her very best to squeeze what was left of her to smithereens. Lapis managed to let out a rasp of shaky breath, attempting to chuckle, only to end up sounding like she was choking. Ruby would pull away with a determined look on her face.  
  
“Now’s not the time to daddle around. Get up. We have things to do.” Ruby was in serious-mode now. Now that Lapis was awake, they could finally get to business. She wouldn’t be an asshole about it though. She extended her hand to Lapis who still was on the floor. She would graciously accept, biting her lip to avoid yelping like an idiot. Ruby would notice this and would decide to walk slowly. Lapis was probably just as confused as her when she woke up. The smaller gem would have no trouble guiding the larger one to Pearl, kneeling next to her. Lapis would just stay standing, arms crossed as she began to think of what to do to help Pearl.  
  
The first thing that Lapis would notice was her gem. It was glowing, yet it shouldn’t have been possible. Pearl wasn’t coherent enough to use her gem, much less in her current state of attempting to imitate a worm. She would kneel next to Ruby, the mood now turning somber as they’d hear her constantly whimper. “She was screaming a while back. At least that’s gone…” Ruby attempted to make the mood lighter but only succeeded in doing the opposite. They both fell silent and just resorted to thinking. She would get an idea, turning to the water down at the bank. She stretched her hand and willed it to come to her, yet she struggled. It felt so draining that as soon as she got a few liters of water in the air, she was forced to drop in back in the bank unless she wanted to drop from exhaustion again. Ruby would see this and shook her head. “We’re too exhausted to do anything… I think the best we can do right now is to wait.”  
  
Lapis agreed, resorting to sitting down on the sand they were on. They were… here. They made it. Thousands of years back in time. Where _was_ here though? She’d look up to the sky above, seeing stars off in the distance. They were _somewhere._ At least it was better than being dead and shattered in the void of the cosmos. She would stare at her open palm, disappointed that she couldn’t even control a puddle of water when she could have lifted a whole planet’s ocean. She turned her hand so she was staring at the back of her hand. If everything was correct, they were truly back. They traversed the seas of time and arrived albeit battered and bruised. She closed her fist. They were going to change _everything._  
  
Ruby held Pearl’s hand. She wasn’t sure if it would help. Hopefully, it did. Maybe it did. She wasn’t sure if she was imagining or not but she seemed to twitch less. Waiting was a pain. It meant that they had no capability to fix the problem at hand. To wait for a better solution was just so… disheartening. She wasn’t the type of gem to wait and see. Her thing was the complete opposite. Right now though, she knew what was needed. She did it.

* * *

The meeting room was silent. There was no more screaming. There were no more bouts of outrage. There were no more audible voices. It was silent. It was eerie. Never before had a Diamond meeting been interrupted to this extent. To the point where even the _Diamonds_ didn’t know what to do. It was just that shocking.  
  
Pink Diamond wasn’t sure what to do. She wasn’t sure what was happening to her Pearl and she sure wasn’t going to find out at this rate. When she didn’t respond, her hand would automatically go to her Pearl, only to stop when she realized that she was in the spotlight. Instead of touching her Pearl, she instead pulled her hand away to her side. She didn’t know what to say. It was comforting, really, that the silence was interrupted by a hologram popping up from her Pearl’s gem. The other Pearls would notice that Pink’s Pearl didn’t seem to recognize her own actions as her eyes were closed. This wasn’t her doing.  
  
At first, there was nothing. It showed haze, crackled and was often disrupted. It seemed that this hologram was corrupted. Something told the Diamonds to not interrupt and continued to look and listen. It was as if the unprecedented events that had occurred were simply too outrageous and interesting to stop now. The hologram would flash a bright white, forcing them to look away as it slowly dissipated, leaving behind a tangible background. Finally, a scene they could see instead of constant fizzling.  
  
Pink’s Palanquin. It was bright pink. It was small- really small for Diamond standards. Compared to the Palanquins of her fellow Diamonds, hers was really miniscule. That didn’t mean it took less time and craftsmanship to construct. It was beautiful, each flower-like shaped hole taking hours of effort to perfect. There were hundreds of them as well, each wall encompassing more and more flower-like holes. The throne was just as beautiful. Always imposing and threatening yet graceful and deadly at the same time, sporting the Great Diamond Authority logo at the top. The floor was pristine and clean. Anywhere they went, no matter how harsh the environment, there was never any visible dirt on it. Everything was perfect, shining with blinding pink. 

The Diamonds and their respective Pearls were confused. To be interrupted by Pink and her Pearl’s shenanigans just for this? It wasn’t even a _good_ prank, only serving to irritate and disappoint the others. Pink though had no part in this. She was just as confused as them. “What are you doing, Pearl?” Maybe it was the questioning state of her response that made Pearl not respond. This baffled her as her Pearl _always_ wanted to do everything for her. This was unlike her. Blue and Yellow would look at each other before looking at White Diamond. White Diamond though, displayed ambiguity instead of anger. Yellow and Blue’s eyes would meet, deciding to let this play out instead of interrupting. Whatever this was, they would get down on it.

The Pink Palanquin was nothing without its Diamond. In conjunction to this, the projection would become blurry for a second before displaying Pink’s Pearl. She was alone. Why would her Pearl be alone in a Palanquin without her Diamond? The Pink Pearl projecting the hologram would open her mouth.  
  
_“And then we’ll be done. It’s going to be easy.” Pearl was uneasy. She was still very reluctant on her Diamond’s suggestions and it would show. It seemed that her Diamond was very insistent. She was just a mere Pearl after all and she would listen. She would obey as she was told to do._

 _“There’s got to be another way. I mean, maybe-” She was interrupted by her Diamond who would not back down on her will. “Blue and Yellow don't care; they never have. This is- -'s colony. We can end it all right here, right now.”_ _  
_ _  
_ From the viewer’s perspective, it seemed that Pearl was talking to no one. But the voice said otherwise.  
  
_Pearl clutched her Diamond’s sword to her chest, hoping that she would see sense. If they did this… If they did this… The consequences were unimaginable. Yet she was just a mere Pearl, told to do her Master’s bidding. “You know this is crazy, right? Your status, my purpose. None of it will matter anymore. This will change everything.”_

_“I know! Isn’t this exciting!?”_  
  
_Pearl would look down for a moment before returning her gaze to her Diamond. “It is.” She said with conviction. It was such an honor to be a part of her Diamond’s plan. Surely this was the best path they could choose for her Diamond’s will was law. It was perfect._

_“We can leave our old lives behind. If this is really my world, I want to give it to the Crystal Gems. I want to live here with human beings! I wanna live here with you! We'll both finally be free!”_  
  
_When she heard those words, all nuances of doubt and uncertainty flew out of the window. She felt determined and ready to support her Diamond’s actions through thick and thin. It was an honor to serve. “Okay. I’m ready.” She would reach up, her hands floating in the air, seeming as if she was being held._ _  
_ _  
_ _“I can’t believe I’m going to do this.” The sheer awe and shock of helping her Diamond go through this important crossway to choose the right path… Pearl was proud to be following her Diamond._

 _“I can’t exactly- -myself.”_ _  
_ _  
_ The sudden cut in the audio feed would leave the Diamond’s confused, now even warier than before. Whatever this hologram meant, it sure was important. Important enough that White would concede to hand over the floor to the Pearl for such reasons. They would ask the questions later. The hologram was not finished yet. Now was the time to listen. 

_Pearl would appear to hug an invisible figure before letting go. A bright light would light up the room, yet once again, there was no one there except Pearl. A few moments later, a dirt mound along with a single, beautiful Hibiscus flower would float in the middle of the room. Pearl would reach for the flower, delicately putting it in her hair. The mound of dirt would be compressed, a soft wind blowing away to reveal… pink gem shards._

_“Convincing?”_

_Pearl was uncomfortable. To imagine she was doing it was the easy part. It was always the thinking that was easy. It was the action that hurt. It was the action of shattering her own Diamond that made her momentarily falter. No, she was not hurting her Diamond. This was her will, so she would follow it. No matter what. She steeled herself to reply. “Very much so, my-”_

_“Soon, it will just be-”_

_The gem shards would go up, stay in the air for a moment before going down slowly._

_“Wait! There’s one last thing I need to do.”_ _  
_ _  
_ _Pearl would gently put the sword on the floor before returning to her somewhat rigid standing position. “Yes?” She wondered what her Diamond would do. Many possibilities, yet she just waited to see what it was. No use pondering on ifs if it was already right in front of you.”_

_“No one can ever find out we did this. I never want to look back.”_

_Pearl’s hands would fold before going up to her face, covering her mouth. Her eyes would widen a fraction as she realized the weight of what was about to happen. With unwavering loyalty, she would do anything her Diamond would tell her. Anything for her._

_“So, for my- -to you as a- -please, let's never speak of this again. No one can know.”_ _  
_ _  
_ “No one can know.” It would boom around the room for a second time, filling the occupants with several different emotions.  
  
Yellow was fearful. They were dealing with so many uncertainties, the one thing she despised the most. The things they couldn’t predict, the events they couldn’t possibly even consider always were catalysts to their losses. The unknown was the worst. She could fight any enemy, crumble hundreds of armies, bolster her troops to fight. Yet one could not fight the unknown.

Blue was skeptical. If this was real and not simply a ploy that Pink decided to play… She chose to be open-minded instead of immediately shooting down the idea. There was no possibility that this was Pink’s idea of a fun prank. It was too knowledgeable, manipulative and clearly had a thorough level of planning involved. Whatever this was, she along with her fellow Diamonds would solve this. Her eyes would land on Pink, having a face of horror and confusion mixed on her face. She knew what to do afterward.

 _“No one can know.”_ A final boom would emanate from Pearl before she ungracefully collapsed on the ground.

* * *

“Rock, paper, scissors, shoot.” Ruby chose paper. Lapis chose rock… again. The score was 17-2, Ruby constantly winning due to the fact that her opponent simply refused to choose any other option other than rock. Lapis chose rock, did as a rock, and lived like a rock, unwilling to move and was awfully stubborn. At least she was a hard gem to crack. She was _technically_ a rock; the human geologists classify Lapis Lazuli as both a rock and a gem. It was an interesting study if Ruby thought so herself. Her attempts at making Lapis feel any better was all for naught. Apparently, it was not a good game to play in times of distress.  
  
She would scratch her head as she attempted one more round of RPS with Lapis, only to end up winning once again. Ruby would sigh before deciding to just give up and rest. Both of the gems were tired from the trip and deserved a long, relaxing recharge. The gems weren’t willing to lower their guard down without knowing that Pearl was okay, so here they were, sitting two rocks around a campfire, waiting for Pearl. It was a relief then that Pearl had stopped convulsing and twitching thirty minutes ago. Now, she just looked like Lapis Lazuli a few moments back. Pearl was unresponsive and deathly pale. 

Ruby had tried and failed to keep Lapis’s mood up. She didn’t know if she could say that she understood what she was going through. They had lost people they had loved. They had suffered and undergone pain because of the actions of others. They fought because they had to. They lost despite knowing deep down their hearts that they were right. They were forced to do things they’d absolutely be disgusted with because of it. They had been shot through thousands of years of reality backward. All of them were tired, battered, and bruised. It showed. Their eyes had dark bags. Slowly, as time moved on, their smiles were less frequent. Hearty laughs were rare. Uplifting and positive moods were usually thrown out of the window in weak excuses that they had to be serious. They had to be because they were the only ones left. Even if they were tired and wanted to quit, they couldn’t. They all made promises that they weren’t willing to break.  
  
Now, they were weak. Ruby could only manage small puffs of smoke. Lapis could only lift up and manipulate small puddles. It was honestly embarrassing. Ruby didn’t really care much about her temperature abilities. Despite having them, she wasn’t reliant on them and used her fighting skill and wit to overcome adversaries. Lapis was a completely different situation. She used water to move around, fight enemies, terraform land and so much more. She knew that Lapis loved her wings the most. Freedom was one thing the water gem would never take for granted. Now, she didn’t even have that.  
  
Ruby knew that Lapis wasn’t a great conversationalist. She wasn’t an open person. She was an introvert. There was a time where she could argue with herself that Lapis _wasn’t_ an introvert. It was definitely lighter, easier times back when they put Peridot in probation in the barn. Ruby wasn’t sure it was the best idea to put Lapis Lazuli in there but Sapphire vehemently disagreed. She was right. After a few weeks of ignorance and tensions you could cut knives with, something clicked and they became the best of friends. Lapis became talkative. She often helped out Peridot in her horticulture classes. It seemed that just _being_ there made her happy and content. 

Ruby wasn’t wrong. Right now, Lapis didn’t know whether to feel upset or guilty. Lapis was upset because of everything they had to go through, everyone she had to lose, all the pain she had to deal with, and being given the monumental task of fixing _everything._ It was honestly draining, constantly just thinking about all of these that she chose to just let it reside in the back of her mind. When she didn’t think about it, she could focus. In times like these, the memories couldn’t help but show themselves back. It all felt so vivid, having to relive these while she was wide awake. Lapis felt guilty whenever she thought about _her._ Whenever her thoughts would drift to Peridot, she couldn’t help but feel worse. Peridot was an interesting character. A formerly loyal, condescending gem under Yellow Diamond’s command, she was tasked on menial mission after menial mission until she was finally granted the honor of working on the dreaded cluster. She relied on her limb enhancers to do the most basic things. Lapis remembered how useless and weak Peridot physically appeared. It took her weeks to get used to life without limb enhancers. She struggled. What Lapis aspired of her was her ability to perform under the worst conditions. Creating machines from broken parts, fixing the Diamond ships in record time and all these crazy other feats. For her, the greatest challenge Peridot overcame was making Lapis smile. She didn’t smile, laugh, and open up her feelings to others. It just seemed… childish. Peridot proved all of those beliefs wrong. She made her smile at her exaggerated explanations to everything, from the relationships of the Camp Pining Hearts characters to how Pumpkin should be fed specific food to be able to grow larger. She laughed when one of her experiments would blow up in her face or when she clumsily stumbled. She always said it was a calculated accident. She liked to think of it as an accident. Peridot wouldn’t hear it though. In her darkest moments when she _remembered,_ Peridot was there by her side to help her out. Even if sometimes she didn’t know what to say, her mere presence was comforting. She made her content when no one else could. Now, she was gone. Now, she didn’t do much of these things.

They would all be interrupted from their musings. Pearl suddenly sat up, staring straight into the woods before abruptly turning her head to the gems. Her expression was horrifying. The crackling flames of the fire drew long shadows on her face. She would seem as if she just woke up from a nightmare herself, her hair ruffled, sticking out everywhere. They were sure that if gems had blood, Pearl would have bloodshot eyes too. Pearl looked crazy. It didn't hurt that her voice was messed up too.  
  
“Where’s the hourglass?” 

**Chapter 2 END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listening to Caleb Hyles' Steven Universe playlist while writing this made it harder to focus, not gonna lie. Taking a day off made it easier to get past a writer's block though. This chapter is slightly longer than the last. We're 18,000 words in yet we aren't even starting yet.
> 
> Thank you to my readers and thank you to my friends for helping me set this up. 
> 
> I was supposed to post Chapter 1 on my birthday but... yeah. Just imagine this got posted on July 1.
> 
> Comments are greatly appreciated. <3
> 
> Add me on Discord: Salacommander#3797


	3. Different Perspectives

_ “But until a person can say deeply and honestly, "I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday," that person cannot say, "I choose otherwise.” - Stephen R. Covey _

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Ruby and Lapis didn’t know where the hourglass was. How could they have forgotten? They had constantly drilled it in their head over and over again to immediately destroy the hourglass as soon as they arrived. Of course, they wouldn’t have been able to destroy it. Being stretched, dissolved, squished while traveling faster than light through thousands of years of time and reality would of course bruise and batter them. The moment they landed, none of them were even conscious, save for Ruby who had gotten up faster compared to the other gems. The obvious shock on their faces would be seen by Pearl.

Ruby was like a deer in the headlights. They had arrived on this mysterious planet with only one planned goal. Destroy the hourglass and proceed onwards. They seriously didn’t expect the journey to be painful, seeing as Steven wasn’t even fazed by his hour-long journey. Steven’s journey took hours while theirs took longer than some of them have ever lived. Maybe they should have planned even longer than their day-long planning session. Too bad. There was no way they would be able to do that anymore.    
  
Pearl would approach, the flames of the campfire causing the shadows on her face to grow longer. From the two gems’ perspective, it looked as if she was still unstable. Clearly, she was. Judging only from her physical looks, she couldn’t imagine what pain Pearl was going through to be exerting force on herself that early. She literally just woke up a moment ago. A few minutes ago, she was writhing on the floor. It was impossible what Pearl was doing right now.   
  
Ruby would attempt to let Pearl cool down for a moment. “Pearl, just calm down-” The gem though would refuse to hear any of it. Pearl would close her eyes, her hands going up to grab her hair and started to pull in anger. “Calm down? Calm down!? How can you- How can you just- urgh!” She would stomp her foot down on the ground and would’ve been threatening if it wasn’t loose, grainy sand she was stepping on. For a moment, Pearl would gaze towards Ruby and Lapis, her fellow gems. Instead of facing them, she instead turned around, facing the dark, thick jungle off in the distance. She didn’t move.   
  
Ruby was confused. Among all of their landings, Pearl must’ve been hit the worst. Her and Lapis  _ seemed _ fine enough after the first few minutes. There must have been something wrong or worse with Pearl’s journey and landing to deem her this emotional and carried away. She was normally more held together than this. She would look at Lapis for any advice. The blue gem would glance at the smaller one, only offering a shrug. It would seem that she had other thoughts in her mind. 

The smaller gem would sigh. She shook her head before deciding to approach the lone, hunched figure past the campfire. A rumble of thunder would signal overhead, indicating that it would begin to rain in a couple of moments. What if Pearl wouldn’t respond? What if Pearl would become even angrier than before if she confronted her? There was no use asking these pointless questions if she didn’t even build up the courage to actually do it. She steeled herself before walking slowly to Pearl’s position. She wouldn’t even notice Ruby approaching her because of her own instability and the noise of the environment they were in. Multiple emotions ran across her face as she saw the side of Pearl’s face. It was the tears that she noticed first. It was safe to say that Pearl’s method of venting was crying everything out. This seemed different though. She couldn’t exactly say it but she knew that something was off. She noticed the wistful, yet angry glare she wore. How did one exactly do that? Somehow, Pearl was able to embody these emotions onto one face while crying.    
  
Whatever Pearl had seen going through that journey wasn’t good. It had all been bad for them. Aside from the crushing, physical trauma, the events that they had to remember and the people they all lost were as clear as day. Yet they made it this far anyway. Lapis and herself were somewhat okay- far from good but there were worse days. It was noticeable that Pearl’s reactions were unorthodox and  _ different.  _ Just that made Ruby extremely worried for her best friend. She wanted to find out and help, but she couldn’t if Pearl wanted to do this the hard way. She would instinctively reach for Pearl’s arm, her fingers barely grazing her skin.   
  
This must have been the wrong move. It was the completely wrong move to do. She’d be shocked when Pearl flinched at the touch, the gem now looking at Ruby with a look of surprise. It took a mere moment for Pearl to react, using her arm to wipe away the tears and basically block her face. She side-stepped away from Ruby before turning around, looking as if she didn’t want to even talk to her- much less be in her mere presence. It didn’t help that she’d feel a pang of guilt and pain deep down when she saw her reaction. Before she could do anything else, Pearl would break off into a run. Well, it looked like a painful jog as she couldn’t exactly run either way. With the mucky, sticky ground and the physical aches they had, it didn’t help. Once again, Ruby would reach for her, ready to run as well.   
  
A hand on her shoulder would land firmly on her, the grip tightening when she attempted to run after the other gem. She looked at Lapis for a reason on why she stopped her but she didn’t seem to be watching Ruby. Lapis was watching the figure of Pearl slowly shrink in the vast jungle. “Let her.” This whole exchange, Lapis had only said a total of two measly words. Ruby knew though that these were the smartest, clearest advice they could follow for now.    
  
Let her. Whatever Pearl was going to do, she’d come back. She always came back. It was only now that she realized that she was extremely tired. It was cold, the mucky dirt they were on was disgusting and the storm that was gonna drop any moment made it even worse. If they chased after Pearl right now, there was a slim chance they’d actually see her- much less catch her. Lapis right now had the best solution so she had to concede, despite being very reluctant at letting Pearl go, she had to.    
  
She’d gaze up to Lapis for a moment. It couldn’t be helped. The small eternal flame couldn't help but hug Lapis as tightly as possible, not even noticing that she began to cry while burying her face in her stomach. Lapis would of course be shocked for a moment when the smaller gem crushed her torso. This time though, there were no grunts of pain. Instead of flinching away or forcing Ruby off of her, she did what any decent friend would do. She hugged her back. 

* * *

Obsession. What was the difference between ambition and obsession? Not much. The line between these two things is blurry and thin, enough to mistake one over the other. Pearl didn’t know. How was she supposed to know? Her drive and her passion- did it warrant everything she had done? All the kinds of atrocities she had committed were irredeemable. All because of one person. Pink Diamond. Rose Quartz. To an extent, Steven Universe as he held her gem. Her every order, every command and every wish was dutifully executed with the finest precision. There were no mistakes made. She was confident in her blind trust and loyalty towards her Diamond because she was perfect. She devoted her life to her, not just because she was ordered to but because she adored her. She loved her and would die for her over and over and over again. What was she now without her? What was the ink without the pen? What was the sword without the shield? What was a Pearl without its master? Nothing. Useless. She couldn’t believe it. It was always  _ her _ telling her what to do. It was always  _ her  _ telling her what not to do. She felt free and  _ safe _ under her command for she knew what was right. She knew what was best.   
  
But what if she didn’t?   
  
It hurt her. It hurt Pearl so much to think about these thoughts of her Diamond. Such treachery would have been punished. She considered herself lucky. She was a lowly Pearl assigned to serve under the highest, the most loving, Pink Diamond herself. Everywhere her master went, she went. Her absolute loyalty and compassion towards her leader were unmatched. No one else could love her as much as she did. No one else had sacrificed more than she did. No one lost more than she did because of it. Now that Pink was gone, she was thrust with the weight of saving the cosmos. Burdened with responsibility, obligation, and freedom of choice and will, she wasn’t Pink Diamond’s pearl anymore. She blamed herself. There could have been a chance where she had saved her. There could have been a chance when she could have prevented everything. There could have been a chance where she had prevented countless deaths and shatterings if she was strong enough...

Pearl was not strong enough. She never was. She had failed to serve Pink Diamond to the best of her abilities. She had let her down countless times, failed to be a proper advisor during her darkest moments, choosing the wrong paths for her Diamond. The Diamonds treated her like a child when Pearl knew that she could have been so much more. She had already been at the brink of perfection if it wasn’t for her temperament and unwillingness to see. Yet Pearl said nothing and stayed silent like the loyal and obedient Pearl she was expected to be. She didn’t say anything when the other Diamonds belittled her. She didn’t say anything when she saw her Diamond forced to kneel in front of the others- forced to beg for one single colony. Over and over again, she could have done so much yet chose to stay silent. She had failed. She was given a chance.   
  
Pearl was not intelligent enough. She never was. She had failed to serve as Rose Quartz's right hand. She was the sword of the army, willing to go through swaths of enemies just to appease her master. It hurt her to turn traitor against her fellow kind. It had hurt her to see familiar faces on the opposite side. It had hurt the most to see her Diamond regretting her actions. She couldn’t have done anything but Pearl could have. She could have confessed to the other Diamonds and face their wrath. She was able to let herself be poofed multiple times yet she couldn’t handle the prospect of getting shattered. She let fear rule her when she knew what was the right thing to do. The time of reckoning came when a bright light filled the skies. Just like that, everyone and everything was gone. Most of her friends, the cause of the rebellion and the very reason they all fought- ground to nothing but dust and nothingness. All she had left was Ruby and Sapphire as Garnet, Amethyst and Rose Quartz. Years upon years, she had tried to cheer Rose up. Everything she had done, everything she had sworn to do was all for naught. No matter what she did for, she didn’t seem to get any happier. She was forced to stare at Rose who slowly but surely got worse and worse over time. Her previous buoyant, radiant attitude was no more. Until Greg came. He made her happy. He loved her. She loved him back. Steven was born. She was gone. Pearl was forgotten. She had failed. She was given a chance.   
  
Pearl did not pay attention enough. This was her third chance at redemption. This was her third and ultimately, final chance to meet expectations and soar above them. Steven was born, a healthy human boy with a gem. Through the love of his two parents, one promised to take care of him while the other sacrificed herself for his life. His story was beautiful yet Pearl did not understand. She did not understand why Rose had to fall in love with some human, she did not understand why she had to sacrifice herself for a hybrid that wasn’t even guaranteed to work. A Diamond, taking all the attention and love of a human- Pearl felt defiled and disgusted. Rose was happy, though she didn’t say anything. She never got to explain to Rose how she felt. She was given one last chance with Steven Universe. She didn’t understand what a  _ baby _ was. It was weird and unorthodox when Steven couldn’t comprehend simple words and actions for a few years. That didn’t stop her from trying to pry out her gem from his mortal shell. It was a good thing she was stopped. That phase quickly left though, being replaced with a more playful version of him. There were multiple attempts where she tried to train him on sword-fighting and battle tactics. Apparently, it was a  _ bad _ thing to do, being criticized by her fellow gems and Greg. She didn’t understand. There was a good side to everything though. He seemed to mesh well with Amethyst and Garnet, easily interacting and playing with them. It was unfair how she had such difficulty interacting with him.    
  
It was hard not to think that he was indeed, not Pink Diamond or Rose Quartz. He had her gem. She was part of him. He was a part of her but that didn’t mean she was still there. He had her sword. He had her shield. He even had her loyal lion. It was hard to realize that he was not her and she was not him. She chose to ignore the constant probes of the other gems. She chose to shake off all their advice and suggestions. She chose to face her own fantasies. She became blind to the truth. The line between reality and fantasy was non-existent. She did not pay attention enough. If Steven didn’t want to approach her, then she didn’t. It was the same thing with her Diamond and with Rose so she knew it would be okay.    
  
It wasn’t. He was a passionate and loving boy. He wanted to do what was right and just. He was noble and courageous to the very end, helping out gems in distress, turning enemies to  _ good, _ and  _ saving  _ the universe from a tyrannical dictatorship. It seemed okay. It seemed that his vision was about to be correct. With all the pieces in place, the only thing left could be happily ever after for everyone. But it wasn’t. Steven’s flawed perspective on reality made it even clearer over time how his opinion on what was right and wrong was morally right but realistically wrong. The need to be needed, impulsive actions, and his constant reactions towards problems made everything worse. The problems began when instead of peace and democracy in the entire universe, there were instead uprisings, anarchy and chaos. Steven didn’t know what to do. His problems began to pile up on him until it was too much. It was one of the few times Pearl saw Steven as Pink Diamond when he destroyed everything in his vicinity. It was another problem to be solved. Garnet had offered a seemingly perfect solution. In the end, everything was going to be fine. It was that day that her expectations- her view on her own reality was shattered. She chose to believe in what was wrong. She chose to delve in the easier lies instead of the harsh truth. She chose to be ignorant and close-minded. She didn’t change. Pearl made the same mistakes over and over again. Every time, she lost more and more. Now, at the very end, she had one more final chance to do it all right this time. She had one more chance to correct her wrongs. This was her last chance to fix everything.

Pearl only realized she had stopped walking now. It was beautiful. She was on a cliff overlooking a massive jungle. The storm clouds were low, only a few rays of moonlight hitting the surface. The scene looked even better when she was right in the middle of a rather strong ray of moonlight. The harsh, cracking wind on the leaves, the soft chirps, and growls of animals settling down for the night made for an ambient environment. It reminded her of Pink Diamond, Rose Quartz, and Steven Universe. It took an effort to gather enough power to use her gem. Despite this, she had to do it. She  _ wanted  _ to do it. After a couple of tries, she finally managed to make her gem strong enough to make a hologram. A spike of pain would run through her gem, merely assuming it was because of physical and mental exhaustion.   


A bright light would be seen in front of her. The environment would be a lot dimmer than usual, considering the current power she could expend. The characters within the hologram fared better though, still brighter and livelier than the rest.    
  
_ Strawberries. It was always the first thing that Pearl noticed whenever she came back here. It wasn’t the shining swords, cracked shields, or massive axes. No weapon was interesting enough here. Not even the shine of the thousands of different shards littered across the field deemed too small and pointless to even bubble. Pearl never noticed the battle that took place here and the graveyard it was now. She noticed the strawberries. Massive, plump bright pink strawberry patches could be found everywhere. Some would have even grown far enough to hide weaponry and debris. Every time she came back here, her curiosity would drift to questions such as: would the strawberries eventually overtake the field? It was rather humbling to think that a mere patch of strawberries could hide history without effort.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ It was an interesting way to look at things. Who were the strawberries? Who were the swords, axes, and shields? Pearl thought of herself to be one with the strawberries. Unrelenting, persistent and never to be overtaken, always overcoming any problem. She would kneel in front of a small strawberry bush. It was rather sad and disappointing to look at. There was one single strawberry in the patch. It held promise and potential if it could only crawl it’s way back to the larger patch a few feet away. It could have been so much more with others instead of being alone. _

_ She would stand up, feeling the heavy weight of the sword she was holding. The strawberries were fine and dandy. They managed to cover up history itself yet they would never compare to her. Even just holding her sword was an honor. She couldn’t help but compare it to the other forms of weaponry on the ground. Unused, dirty, and dusty, too far broken for repair and forgotten. Only a couple handful knew about this place. Hardly anyone else would ever find out its story. She held the sword in front of her, admiring the gleam of the blade and the intricate carvings on the sides. Would this one day be forgotten too? Would it lay unused in some field, hidden by patches of strawberries? Would it slowly deteriorate because of weathering? Would it eventually break? Would it be lost to the sands of time? _ _   
_ _   
_ _ It’s owner sure was. Gone, reduced to mere memory in the wifts of reality and time. Thinking with such negativity made her nearly drop the sword on the ground. It was only then that she realized she was shaking. What was she shaking from? Fear? Pain? She would never let those emotions run through her. Not after everything she had gone through. She let herself still, forcing herself to remain calm and collected. Now was not the time. There was no time to grieve. Not yet.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Pearl closed her eyes. The first thing she noticed was the wind. It’s soft blows made her hair slightly move, not strong enough to continuously do it. The caresses of the wind were subdued yet she noticed. Every touch and every movement. She noticed and remembered. The different smells and aromas, from the caramel-like odor of the strawberries to the metallic taste of forged iron. The earthy scent produced by rain, petrichor, was prominent here. All these smells mixed together, always identifiable. She always knew the smell. Every waft and drift. She knew and cherished. It was quiet if you didn’t listen. She always listened. The harp of the wind on the leaves, the hum of a portal- hum of a portal? _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “Pearl?” Discord- the lack of harmony between each and every note was now noticeable. She knew the cause and she didn’t want to be anywhere near it. Without hesitating she turned to her left, running away. It was easier to run away. “Leave me alone.” A warning should suffice. She didn’t want anyone to see the state she was in. Dirty, filled to the brink with tears,emotion was overwhelming. Too much of it was sickening. She was sick. Let everyone leave her alone in peace. She deserved it. _ _   
  
_

_ “Pearl, wait for me!” Chaos. Complete disorder and confusion now reigned. The heavy thuds on her left made her look. She shouldn’t have looked. It was much easier to be ignorant. When they continued to chase, she quickened her pace, jumping at the last second, landing on a floating rock and then another. She turned around, staring at the two. “Get that thing away from me!” She pleaded. When had she ever done that? Shame filled her as she realized what was happening. She was running away. She couldn’t stop now though. She turned around, hopping from floating stone to stone. She wanted it. _

_ “Okay, I've had a talk with Lion, he's gonna, uh, chill out here, uh, we're alone now, nice and private…” It was a soft whisper in the wind. She barely heard it and chose not to listen. There was no need to listen to the voice. She ran, continuing to traverse the gravity-defying earth, rock to rock. “This is really hard to do in sandals.” The voice was persistent. The voice was unending. It continued to chase and she was struggling to block it out. More and more would slip in. Humor. The state of mind didn’t match with hers. To use humor right now in this situation? How selfish it was for the voice to laugh. She hated the laughs. They were unimportant. They were useless. They hurt. She all just wanted them to… “go away!” She wouldn’t even notice herself screaming it out loud. It was all she wanted.  _

_ “Pearl! Did I... did I do something wrong? You got to tell me!” Did the voice do anything wrong? It didn’t. Then why was she like this? Why was she so vulnerable, displaying her emotion like a picture book? It didn’t make sense. She didn’t make sense, and the voice didn’t too. Did she have to tell the voice? She didn’t. No matter what she thought and desired, there were some things she couldn’t tell. There were some things she could never tell. Maybe that was why she was like this. The burden of having secrets so important, it hurt just thinking about it. When she remembered, when she reminisced, it always was. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ She waited. Patiently. Like the obedient Pearl she was. Any moment now, he would jump from the other rock to hers… Any moment now, he would land to help, even if he didn’t understand. He never understood. But it never came. There was no thump on the soft grass. There was no whoosh of wind on her back. Nothing. And then she realized. She immediately turned around with a look of indescribable horror on her face. Falling. It was not safe for him to fall from this height. It was not safe! Her duty now on the line, she frantically rushed to the edge to peek, willing to jump if required.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ It was hard to say if she was satisfied or disappointed. Satisfied because he didn’t fall and she didn’t fail. Disappointed because she was forced to look either way and because he wasn’t gone. He was still here. It was so selfish of her to even think those thoughts. Such horrible thoughts because of her desires. Every time she desired, she desired wrongly. Every time she chose, she chose incorrectly. It was why she didn’t know what to do. Her desires always led to the misfortune of others. Always, what she wanted to be was what no one needed. Even if she needed it herself, everyone else was far too important for her whimsy desires to overrule. It was simple. At the edge of the cliff, she took a look at her blade. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Sharp and gleaming with intensity. Yet it wasn’t hers. She carried the blade and ran away with it but it was never hers. She shuddered, setting it down softly on the ground so as not to scratch it before wrapping her arms around herself. What had she done? What had she done to deserve any of this? Her friends were gone. Her desires were gone. Her home was gone. Her freedom was gone. Pink was gone. Rose was gone. She almost lost Steven too. Where did it all go wrong? Why did it have to become like this? She touched her face, covering her mouth. Was it something she said? Was it something she had been told to do? She didn’t know and she never would. All that was left was… It was a struggle to think of what she had left.  _

_ “PEARL! Pearl, you have to tell me what's wrong.” The voice. It was here again. So soft and compassionate. Loud yet not pain-bearing. So full of innocence and joy that it was hard to not respond. How could you if what you were dealing with was a boy with pure innocence of heart? She was like that too, wearing her heart on her sleeve. To think that she wanted to run away. To think that she wanted her back. So much conflict when it was all right in front of her. She stopped looking on the mushy grass, tilting up to stare at nothing in particular. She was always drawn to the horizon though. It was so far, unreachable yet never-ending. Just like her. “Sometimes, you even sound like her…” She could hear it so clearly. She wondered why she always chose to tune it out instead of listening. She pondered why she preferred to close her eyes instead of seeing what was in front of her. _

_ “Do you remember this place? Do you have any of her memories?” These were the questions she had always wanted to ask but didn’t dare to. How much more suffering could she bring if she did. There was no point now though. She clutched the grass underneath her palm just to remind herself that this was not a dream. This was reality. She stood up. This was sacred ground and she wasn’t going to violate it any longer. “We were right here, over 5,000 years ago.” The hologram would reveal… her.  _

_ Rose. So beautiful and lovely. The personification of heavy burdens on the undeserving- the innocent. She had chosen to fight here on Earth, for the planet and its inhabitants. She had chosen to leave everything and everyone behind. “Pearl…” She seemed troubled. This would prompt her to face up, responding immediately. “Yes?”  _

_ “I'm going to stay and fight for this planet. You don't have to do this with me.” She offered her a choice. A choice to run. A choice to turn around. A choice to flee. A choice to live. She knew she would regret it if she chose it. Rose was so compassionate and loving to give her an offer, yet both of them knew what her choice would be to the very end. She would stay and fight… for her. As she began to lose people and things, she wasn’t about to allow and lose her as well. “But I want to!” She did. She wanted to do it with her. _

_ “I know you do. Please, please understand if we lose, we'll be killed, and if we win, we can never go home.” Pearl was bewildered. Why would she ever want to leave? Why would she ever want to give up and surrender? She already had everything she had ever wanted. “But why would I ever want to go home, if you're here?” _

_ She offered her hand. “My Pearl…” _ _   
_ _   
_ _ She gladly accepted. “You're wonderful…” She was. There were no lies behind it. She’d stay by her side to the very end. Her touch, her smell, her sound… her presence. It was lovely. She reached for her hand.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ The hologram would dissipate, a flicker of Pink Diamond being seen in Rose’s position. Just like that though, she was gone. Many, many times, she had left Pearl alone with her thoughts. “Everything I ever did, I did for her. Now she's gone, but I'm still here.” She would unconsciously sit down, exhaustion settling over her. She was tired from running, hopping, and exerting energy. She was tired of remembering, tired of thinking, tired of reminiscing what was… for it never will be now. A pained look crossed over her face as she questioned. “Sometimes, I wonder if she can see me through your eyes.” It was a gift to be able to imagine. It was a privilege to be able to think of what could have been instead of what is. It was one of the few things she never took for granted. She wondered about herself. The position she was in. The tired creases on her face, the ruffled undignified nest she called her hair, the dirt, and wrinkles on her dress, her descent of emotionally-induced madness, “what would she think of me now?” _

_ Pink Diamond was not here. Rose Quartz was not here. She was not here. It was always her who tried to help her. It was always her who tried to understand, even if sometimes she didn’t. At least she tried when no one else wanted to when no one else could. She was there for her. Now that she was gone though, she didn’t expect anyone to try. It would be a shock to her system and thunder to the deep core of her beliefs when she was so abruptly approached from behind. Her eyes would widen, body going rigid, unsure itself of what to do when she realized what was happening.  _

_ Before she knew it, tears were streaming down. There was no point in holding it all back anymore. The pain, the distress, the confusion- years upon years of thoughts boiling in her head, repeatedly antagonizing her. She had thought that no one had understood. She wasn’t wrong though. No one would ever understand except her. What shocked her was that despite that, someone tried. Someone had done the impossible. They had tried to help. _

_ “Well... I think you're pretty great.” No amount of words could describe it. No amount of numbers could recount it. She didn’t need to do anything. This time, she could choose. This time, she chose to do it. Without any regret, she let it all out. This time, she didn’t run. This time, she stayed. She stayed with Pink. She stayed with Rose. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ She stayed with Steven.  _

The hologram dissipated shortly afterward. The scenery would disappear first. Steven would also begin to disappear, his normally bright light slowly dimming until he faded. It was herself that was most interesting. In the actual hologram, she always managed to make herself less bright. Every time it ended though, Holo-Pearl would grow brighter and brighter until it was too harsh to look at. She would always be gone afterward. 

It was a coincidence that Holo-Pearl would gaze towards Pearl before disappearing in light-fashion but was it really? She didn’t know, and it was likely she wasn’t going to figure out. It was only now that she realized how tired she was. The physical exhaustion from the journey to the mental trauma of reliving her memories made it all more worthwhile to take a rest. So tired and unaware of her environment that she wouldn’t even be able to react before a massive beak would swallow her whole.

* * *

Yellow was at the pinnacle of her fury, fuming to explode in moments. Everything she had heard and gathered from the hologram absolutely warranted her rage. All of it, from the interruption of Pink Diamond and her Pearl to the insinuations the hologram had behind it; it was simply too much for her to remain calm. There was absolutely no reason to remain calm at all right now. The gravity of the situation would be much more reason to do so if it didn’t seem so unlikely. If the hologram was  _ correct… _ No, she couldn’t think that. This was just another prank from Pink Diamond and her Pearl. This was all just for jokes and light-hearted fun. Her face twitched, grip tightening on her seat as she struggled whether to laugh in disbelief or shout in anger. Her eyes would dart to Pink.   
  
Blue must have taught Pink regarding theatre and performance in their last class. The way that Pink was managing to display a face of utter horror and confusion- as if she couldn’t believe what had happened in the heat of the moment. Yellow noted how her body would shake and tremble slightly, Pink’s eyes darting around to each of the Diamonds and back to her own Pearl frantically, not knowing what to do. It was a great performance indeed if it wasn’t for the fact that it wasn’t funny nor amusing. 

Yellow's eyes would dart to Blue in accusatory anger. Whatever game they were playing, she would get down to the bottom of it. Her classes on Pink’s behavior were clearly not productive. Every time she was with her, it would be noticeable that Pink would be more relaxed and carefree compared to the expectations that were set on her. She couldn’t help but blame Blue for this, immediately thinking that this was some sort of presentation they had planned. If it was, then it was a good performance at the worst of times. To think they had the audacity to interrupt White herself… Blue would meet her gaze dead-on. It was an invitation to their mindscape, having the ability to engage in mental conversations between the Diamonds.    
  
_ “What is the meaning of this?” Yellow would subconsciously get up from her chair, crossing her arms as she stood menacingly over Blue who was still seated on her chair. “Do you think this is some fun game you and Pink would enjoy?” _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Yellow is visibly irritated when Blue’s face suddenly lit up in confusion. Blue would stand up from her throne, approaching the furious Yellow without any fear. It was always like this between them. It was always miscommunication and lies that tore them apart, making them fight and misunderstand. Yellow noted that Blue would be having none of it today. “What do you mean, Yellow?” She asked gently, knowing that it wouldn’t help the situation if she fought back. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Yellow would breathe heavily, forcing her to calm herself. She closed her eyes for a moment, attempting to regain control of her rampant emotions. She might have felt the need to rage and vent out in anger yet she could never do it with Blue, especially when she was doing nothing wrong. Innocence until proven guilty, she would repeat in her head. A few moments later, she’d open her eyes, gazing deep into Blue’s dark irises. It was easy to get lost in the eyes of a gem she could understand- the only gem she’d ever see as an equal. No matter what, White was above them. Pink could still be better and she would be if not for… She’d turn her attention to the problem at hand, staring at a repeating scene of Pink Diamond and her Pearl on the floor. Whatever this was, she would get answers. “What game are you playing with Pink? What kind of prank have you decided to tolerate?” Her emphasis on prank made it seem like she was spitting out acid strong enough to shatter Diamond.  _

_ Once again, Blue would only look confused. This time though, instead of anger and annoyance running through her, she would falter, letting disbelief go rampant. Their mutual trust between all Diamonds made lying a near impossibility. Blue’s honest look would only make it more difficult to see what was truly happening. Blue didn’t look as if she was going to answer so instead, she continued. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Yellow would approach the scene, gesturing to Pink. This was unlike her. The pranks she had always played were fun, loving and a joy to all of the Diamonds. They were lighthearted and easy to understand and as long as it wasn’t in public, they all reluctantly agreed that it was alright. Right now though, what she was seeing was the complete opposite. Pink looked to be on the verge of tears, cradling her Pearl, looking frantically around for answers that didn’t exist and family who’d understand. It was a sobering thought. Pink was always rainbows and sunshine that whenever she became like this, it hurt just to think about it. She was so sweet and innocent that it was painful to imagine her being in any sort of pain. Right now, it seemed that she was in so much. What could it possibly mean? She’d instinctively kneel down and reach for Pink, only to remember that this was just thought. There was no Pink or her Pearl here. It was only her and Blue. “I don’t understand what’s going on…”  _

_ Blue stood still for a moment before going next to Yellow, kneeling so she could take a better look at Pink and her Pearl. She kneeled so that she’d see Yellow. Her hand would gravitate towards her shoulder, grip soft yet firm as if she was never going to let go. Yellow would continue looking at the scene right in front of them. “I simply don’t understand the meaning of this. Why would you teach her to do this? Why would she decide to do this in the first place?” Yellow couldn’t help to make it seem accusatory. She was and she wasn’t going to lie about it. The truth was far better than lies that would make it easier. Blue would shake her head at the insinuation. “I do teach her about presentation and how to decorate herself but I would never do this.” Yellow would look at Blue, shocked at the fire in them. She was saying the truth. “Never.” _

_ One of her hands would go up to her forehead, rubbing it as she struggled to comprehend what was happening. Blue didn’t do it. If Blue didn’t do it, then did Pink do this alone? She knew the answer to that and it made her feel even worse. Nothing was worse than the unknown. Nothing was worse than fighting an invisible enemy. She would look up from the ground and turn back to the scene. “If this wasn’t you and it wasn’t Pink…” Now she was really irritated. She had thought that the problem was right in front of her, easily solvable. Now that she had confirmation that it wasn’t. She would begin to emit sparks of electricity, a common occurrence whenever she was stressed and on high alert.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Blue didn’t need any visible sparks from her to know that she was feeling troubled. Of course, she knew. From the very moment that Pink’s Pearl would act out, she noticed that Yellow was already feeling anxious. What more could she feel when she didn’t know the problem? “Yellow, look at me.” She looked at her, a worried expression marring her face, the normally rigid and straight lines, and sharp shadows now gone, replaced with soft curves and highlights. Yellow would never have shown this if they weren’t in such a private location.  _

_ “I don’t know what’s going on as well.” It was the truth. She had never seen anything like it, from Pink Diamond’s behavior to the sudden, glitchy actions of her Pearl. These were firsts for them. They wouldn’t understand no matter how hard they tried to at first. “It seems so unorthodox and unexplainable, right? As if everything that could go wrong, did go wrong and we knew nothing about it?” She knew that Yellow had a negative view towards the unknown and she couldn’t blame her. Not knowing what was in front of them was daunting. There was a problem though. It became less challenging to face when there was someone there with you. She would use her other hand to place it on Yellow’s cheek.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “We’ll find out.” It wasn’t Blue who spoke this time. It slightly surprised her even that she would speak up now out of all times. Maybe it was the mental connection that they had. The trust that had cemented itself for thousands of eons made it much easier to understand without words or actions. Without even looking, both of them knew what was happening to the other. It was good though. It was better this way that it took only a few words and actions to calm her down. It was better than having her destroy throne upon throne in rage. She agreed fully with her statement. They had to find out.  _   
  
_ “Together.” They would whisper in sync, nodding to each other that they had gone over this small hurdle. They’d both jump out of their mindscape now that they were done. _ _   
_ _   
_ In what felt like minutes in their mindscape was mere nanoseconds. They were essentially stuck in time, looking as if they had looked at each other before returning back to normal. It was a simple concept with a hard explanation. Yellow couldn’t seem to place how exactly to explain it to Pink when she first asked what it truly meant to use this power. She shoved her thoughts of the past aside and settled to look at the present. She would lock eyes with Blue for the last time before she decided to do it.   
  
She wasn’t even able to open her mouth yet, suddenly hearing a commanding whisper from White. This whole time, in such a focused state towards her emotions and thoughts in turmoil, she forgot that White was still here. Well, she didn’t forget. She would never forget. White was simply pushed back to the back of her mind. It surprised her that she’d be able to push White back. What was even more surprising was the single word that she had managed to voice out.    
  
“Dismissed.” 

Dismissed? What did she mean _?  _ Yellow and Blue understand White’s intentions. This wasn’t a problem they would once again sweep under the rug and let White off to her own devices. They would work together, overseeing it. It didn’t mean that White was perfect that she didn’t have to do everything alone. They were after all, the Great Diamond Authority. One would not co-exist with the other. Yellow and Blue would both stand up to face White. They wouldn’t get any chance to actually say something before she stood up as well for the first time in the entire meeting, grinning at them with that sickly smile.    
  
“I’m sorry. Yellow and Blue will go off to their duties now, won’t they?” Her gaze would first go to Yellow and then to Blue. She wouldn’t let them respond, immediately gesturing to Pink. “Come on Starlight… I can make things  _ better.”  _ A large white bubble would envelop Pink and her Pearl while an even larger one swallowed up White and her Pearl too. Before Blue and Yellow could process what just happened, they were gone. Even their loyal Pearls didn’t know what to say, always knowing how to cheer up their respective Diamonds in times like these. That was incorrect though as that would be saying that times like these were  _ normal  _ when everything clearly wasn’t. Something was off and they needed to know what.

* * *

The blazing fire that was so powerful a few hours ago was now just ash. Dampened by the torrent of rain and the strong winds, there was no way it would have remained strong. She poked some half-burnt log with a stick, reluctantly accepting that they wouldn’t get any fire soon. The rains and the winds hit the campfire hard yet once everything would become dry, it could get back to its former glory, no matter how long it took. Even if it took time. 

Different people have different reactions to different situations. That was to be expected, as there wouldn’t be any different situation if there was no different reaction. Lapis firmly believed that the choices they made defined them. Choosing your paths made you who you are and who you will be. What did that make her? She didn’t know. She could say that she was on the worst path possible, choosing the most horrible options available because of the current situation they were in. They were stuck in an alien world, presumably eons back while being essentially defenseless. It was freedom that made it all worth it. From the way the cold wind and sharp vacuum of space hit her body to the way she was able to see all the different sights around her, Earth’s magnificent and towering skyscrapers to the vast splashes of color in space. Freedom was truly astounding and many took it for granted but she was not one of them.   
  
Wings were her tool. Power was her weapon. Without these aspects, she was vulnerable and grounded, unable to choose decisions for herself. She didn’t like it. She absolutely hated the way everything around her moved and decided to choose  _ for  _ her. She did not have control of the environment around her and was therefore not in control of herself. They had clipped her wings and without them, she couldn’t fly. 

It was especially harder for her as she was a gem who was made to use these powers in all types of circumstances, from terraforming to simply traveling between solar systems. It was easy to regard them as mere  _ powers _ . It might have been for many of her fellow gems. For her, it was her lifeline. Now that she didn’t have them, she could have vented in fury. She could have kicked and punched herself into more exhaustion. She could have done something selfish and carried down the team. She wasn’t going to do that though. She had learned her lesson the hard way many times already. 

Lapis couldn’t be mad or angry at any of her fellow gems, regardless of what they had done. Not much could garner any emotion from her nowadays. Pearl didn’t do anything wrong. She didn’t warrant anything to make her grow angry and furious. If it was how Pearl decided to approach her coping mechanism, she would let her. If she wanted to do it, let her. She had advice yet she would never force her fellow gems to do anything. She’d let Pearl do anything and she’d stick by her side to the very end. As long as she didn’t take any of their freedoms away, she was fine. Someone still wasn’t though.

Lapis glanced at Ruby who was sitting cross-legged down at the muddy riverbank a few feet away from her. This was unusual of her. There was normally some sort of different coping mechanism she would display. Furious pacing, enraged screaming and harsh displays of physical violence- that sort of thing. She couldn’t blame her for acting so out of place. Pearl who was normally composed enough to handle the emotions had just stumbled off somewhere in the forest without any explanation. All of them were undergoing a new environment so it would make sense that they would have unorthodox reactions. If everything was normal, Lapis guessed that she too would have run off. Times were different. 

She was obliged to stay. The unpredictability of the situation made everyone act weird. Maybe it was for the best or maybe it was the complete opposite. They were going to get over it anyway. They had to. This was their last chance. She would have used her water powers to make sure this fire was truly out but instead of wasting such important energy she had left, she just kicked some mud on it. Much easier than struggling with a puddle of water. Once that was done, she grabbed her camo outfit from her bag and Ruby’s as well before going down the slippery slope.

Apparently, she had miscalculated how slippery and unstable the ground actually was. One slight misstep on that particular part made her unstable, making one of her feet apply too much pressure, the mud sucking it up. Out of balance and unstable, it felt like hours as she fell down splat on the mud face first. It would have been comedic if it wasn’t for the fact that it wasn’t. A rather pathetic plop would have been heard. It was like a small stone plopping on the lake with more squishiness added to it. It was disgusting. She had her  _ mouth _ open. It was open and now she had all sorts of muck in it. She was tempted to just stay laid down in the mud but knew that she would eventually have to get up. Better now than ever, she thought before getting up.    
  
She was greeted with the sight of a snickering Ruby. Lapis Lazuli, on the floor, with mud on her face and mouth surely was a funny sight. If it made Ruby happy in times of sadness… She grinned with a mix of happiness and eternal pain. She could choose to be angry and ruin the mood. She could choose anything and make it worse. Right now though, she was obliged to do the right thing. Even if it was disgusting. Toothbrushes are one of the best inventions humanity has ever invented. 

**Chapter 3 END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a rather hard chapter to write. Took longer than usual to complete but at least I got to publish it in less than 5 days. White Diamond is hands-down, the hardest character to write, especially with how little canon we got from her. Pearl, Lapis, and Ruby were the most enjoyable characters to write for me- although Ruby didn't get her own pov this chapter. I don't know if I should add Blue and Yellow Pearl's pov as they aren't necessarily the main characters. It all depends on where I plan to take this story. 
> 
> Hope you all didn't get confused by Pearl's hologram scene. I assumed the hologram within the hologram part would fare worse. If any of you think this is going to be a short story, then you'll be surprised.
> 
> I hope to hear all of your reactions and comments below. Constructive criticism really helps my progress. Thanks to HugsNKisses for the comments. Thanks to everyone who took a look at this. Thanks to you people who dropped a Kudos. Thanks to my friends who once again lent their efforts for this work.
> 
> Add me on Discord: Salacommander#3797
> 
> <3 Luv yall <3


	4. Alarm

_“_ _But there was a difference between being stuck and choosing to stay. Between being found and finding yourself.” - Martina Boone_

**Chapter 4**

* * *

It was times like these where everybody could quickly find out what it meant to face the impatience of a Diamond. What makes it worse was that there’s _two_ of them, itching, ready to lash out at anything that they would deem to be a hindrance to them. Yellow Diamond, who’s harsh punishments and loud, booming commands could easily make a gem reduced to tears, tended to be more vocal about disappointment and annoyance. Blue Diamond on the other hand, who’s punishments are non-existent, failure ending up to be the last moments for a gem before being shattered, was never vocal about failure. You were lucky if she’d utter a word to you after such a disappointing performance;it wasn’t exactly luck if you were shattered.  
  
Such were the lives of Pearls serving directly under the Great Diamond Authority. Yellow Pearl didn’t seem to think much of her getting punished. She’d never stoop as low as to warrant disappointment from the Diamonds, especially her mistress, Yellow Diamond. It was simply out of the question to perform with mediocrity and would always do her best to give the best possible results. It was an honor to be serving under these mighty rulers, no matter what anyone said. Aside from being there for her Diamond, there were _other_ benefits as well. Namely, being able to flaunt her position to other gems who were lower ranking. She didn’t want to admit it but she always felt awfully smug and superior than all those gems beneath her. It was especially the case when a gem would enter her Diamond’s throne room and report failure. Watching them being on the edge of tears was a fun game to play. 

That didn’t mean she’d step out of line though. Serving under the Diamonds didn’t mean she was in the spotlight. She would never share the spotlight with such perfect beings. She would always stay in their shadow and that was fine. She was sure that other gems would want such immense power but they always forgot the responsibility that came with it. She wasn’t created to flaunt her title and position. She was created to be a dutiful Pearl, obeying orders and assisting whenever required. That meant always having a massive workload, never having to rest at any point in time. It was a price to pay for serving under the Great Diamond Authority. These were simpler conditions. Do any work that was required and you were fine. Work was something she could do with only one way forward and that was accomplishing it through time. Orders were also easier as you only had to do certain objectives with proficiency and you were finished. 

The hard part of being a Pearl underneath the Great Diamond Authority wasn’t the massive workload nor the orders. It was dealing with the Diamonds themselves, especially her Diamond, Yellow. She was always vocal and that was a good thing. It became a bad thing when it became _too_ vocal. The times when she became much more destructive and louder than usual were times that she dreaded. One minute, you were fine but the moment that you let your guard down, you were going to get hit by a stray zap from the Diamonds. Yellow Pearl abhorred these times. When there was nothing she could do to please her Diamond and uplift her spirits, she was left in a conundrum. Stay still or attempt to fix things while possibly making it worse. She usually stayed still. Orders were much easier to deal with than enraged Diamonds. 

Staying still didn’t mean doing nothing. She was constantly listening to the conversations of the Diamonds, making sure that there was nothing she’d miss out. Not hearing an order from the Diamonds was something she had never done. She would like for it to stay that way. She stayed still and silent as Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond bantered back and forth, observing from a distance. She would glance at Blue Pearl who was at the feet of Blue’s throne who seemed to be taking notes on her screen before turning her attention back to the Diamonds.  
  
“I simply don’t understand. I don’t understand why White _always_ has to do this.” Her diamond seemed to be more furious than Blue, yet this was normal. Seeing an enraged Blue was unorthodox yet overwhelming too. All the Diamonds were scary no matter what. Yellow Diamond would pace around the throne room, her footsteps loudly shaking the foundations of the building. Blue Diamond was standing in front of White’s throne, adopting a pensive look. It was much harder to read Blue Diamond who didn’t vocalize much of her thoughts. Blue Pearl seemed to always understand her Diamond’s thoughts though, so she guessed that it took careful attention to detail. That would be Blue Pearl’s job though as she had her own Diamond to deal with.  
  
“A problem arrives that affects all of us and what does White do?” Yellow Diamond would stop pacing around the room and look at Blue Diamond with a fierce expression. Blue Diamond would glance around from White’s throne to Yellow. “She does what she thinks is necessary.” That was the truth. One single statement to dissipate all negative emotion away. The mood inside the room didn’t seem to get lighter and only grew heavier by the moment. Yellow Diamond seemed to only become irritated, rubbing her forehead. “I know that…” Yellow would reluctantly voice out, knowing this was indeed true. The Great Diamond Authority was a strong order yet there were still 4 members who each had their own agendas despite all having similar goals.

White, the leader of the Great Diamond Authority, tended to take things into her own hand whenever problems such as this arised. It allowed the other Diamonds to tend to their own work, keeping efficiency and productivity on Homeworld and their respective colonies high. Yellow and Blue often let this slide as they knew that White could handle it. Yellow though seemed to be thinking differently this time. “We know that White _can_ handle it on her own. We know that she most likely already has some convoluted plan to figure everything out with Pink and her Pearl. We know that she knows.” She would clench her fist tightly, continuing. “There are lines we have to draw. We cannot just let her do this alone this time. We’re the Great Diamond Authority for a _reason._ ” She would slam her fist on her open palm, still managing to sound a boom. 

Blue Diamond stayed still, not showing any obvious signs of acceptance or disbelief. As usual, she remained pensive and thoughtful, thinking of ways around the problem. She had to ask the most glaring question out of the way first. “And what if she just says no again?” This was not the first time they had run off to White to ask and plead. This didn’t mean that they would stop here though. It wasn’t the first time they had to ask yet this wasn’t the first time they had succeeded. Yellow was amused by Blue’s response, laughing heartily. Blue Diamond would seem annoyed by this and slightly zapped Yellow with her own powers. It was playful though and it only made the picture worse, Yellow looking as if she had spent hours laughing with the tears around her eyes. Blue Diamond would roll her eyes while Yellow straightened up, shaking her head.  
  
“Then we try over and over again.” Blue didn’t have anything else to say so Yellow considered this a victory in her books. Well, it wasn’t exactly an argument as she knew that Blue wanted the same thing too but the feeling was still there. Yellow Pearl relaxed as the tension permeating the room was thankfully now gone. It felt unhealthy to be in a room with two angry Diamonds whose auras were flaring every now and then. Content, Blue Diamond would gesture to her Pearl. “Call White and don’t stop until _someone_ answers.” 

Yellow Pearl would gaze as Blue would swipe on her screen, pressing a few buttons. The sound of the communication beeps were prominent as everyone waited with bated breath. The first call would be unsuccessful, to no one’s surprise. The second, third, and succeeding calls were once again ignored. Yellow’s mood would sour as she noticed the expressions of the Diamonds. It was even worse that both of the Diamond’s attention were on Blue. It was always awful when one Pearl had to shoulder the anger of multiple Diamonds. It wasn’t Blues fault that the calls weren’t being received but the danger of being hit by a zap was still there nonetheless. 

Her anxiousness would dissipate as the call would _finally_ go through. It felt like it was more than twenty calls. More along the hundreds, to be honest. The general atmosphere of the room now felt constricting, everyone eager to find out. They would all be slightly disappointed when instead of White herself who would answer, it was White’s Pearl. White’s Pearl was smiling. She always was. Yellow couldn’t help but be uncomfortable whenever she thought of _that_ Pearl. She was the personification and image of what failure led to. She was what Yellow feared herself to be. The cold, rigid smiles didn’t help the case. She knew that Blue Pearl would also be uncomfortable yet she didn’t show much emotion to warrant true observation. It was only hundreds of eons of time she had spent with her that she knew and trusted Blue. She would enlarge the screen, White Pearl now facing both Diamonds.  
  
With hands behind her back, she gestured the Diamond salute before putting them behind her back, continuing to smile. “You’ve reached the White Diamond control room. How may I help you?” Nothing felt natural with that Pearl. The way her mouth moved didn’t feel right and it felt forced, as if the gem inside her was fighting. It would still be her voice instead of White’s, yet that only meant that White wasn’t paying attention and this Pearl was actually, mostly her. The silence lingered and stretched on. A few moments later, Yellow Diamond would approach from her position and cleared her throat.  
  
“We need to speak with Wh-” White Pearl wouldn’t take any of it and immediately interrupted Yellow before she could even finish her sentence. She shook her head to signal disapproval. It didn’t look like shaking her head, looking like her head jerked left and right imitating disapproval. That Pearl couldn’t be any more creepier and unnatural with the way she moved and talked like that. “I’m sorry.” The way she had pronounced sorry was clinical and sickly. She shouldn’t have even bothered to say that there was no way White Pearl could be any more creepier. “White Diamond is not available at this moment and will not be for an indefinite amount of time. Please schedule an appointment for the next century.” Her body would jerk forward and bow, suddenly going back to her original standing position. She would gesture the Diamond salute before the call was abruptly cut off. 

The whole room was, frankly, appalled. Dismayed since the very beginning of White Pearl’s actions, Yellow and Blue Diamond weren’t even able to say anything else. Being interrupted by White was fine but her _Pearl_. They were able to utter 5 and a half words before being rudely stopped by a lesser gem. A crackle of sparks would whip out from Yellow while the mood once again plunged into a far worse atmosphere than last time. It even seemed considerably sadder as well, probably due to Blue Diamonds power. Yellow Diamond would seem to have none of it anymore, deciding to send off her Pearl.  
  
“Go to White’s palace and summon her. Go.” Yellow would salute while keeping her head high. The order sounded simple. It sounded as if she could have done it easily. Most things were easier said than done though. It would appear as if Blue Diamond recognized this and turned to her Pearl. “Go with Yellow’s. Your orders are the same.” Blue Pearl would walk next to her, doing the same gesture. “Of course, My Diamond”, they would utter at the same time. She promptly bowed, her torso at an exact forty five degrees, holding it for a moment, standing upright shortly after. Blue would simply curtsy, holding the hems of her skirt before letting it go once she was upright. They would both turn around to exit the room. She would walk briskly while Blue merely took lengthier strides while still portraying a sense of ease. 

It felt like hours to walk the distance from the throne room to the massive doors, even if it only usually took a second. She felt the probing eyes of their Diamonds watching them walk away and didn’t dare turn around now, continuing to look forward. Step by step, they eventually made it. The doors would automatically open, no need for them to input any such password as they walked out. The whoosh of air behind them would tell them that the door had shut already.  
  
Yellow didn’t hesitate to stop right then and there. Blue seemed to have the same idea. They both didn’t need to look at each other to know what they were thinking and feeling. Where to even start? Pink Pearl spazzing out, the hologram, White Diamond’s sudden departure, White’s Pearl’s insistence at denying them information, and generally all the secrecy. Where does she even start to ponder on all the horrible yet intriguing events that had happened today? They both looked at each other, puzzled. “What just happened?”

* * *

Pink Diamond was bored. There was no simpler explanation to it. Inside White Diamond’s palace, there was nothing to look at and nobody to talk to. The walls seemed to stretch all the way up to oblivion, nothing but darkness above. The floor was of ceramic white, perfectly devoid of all dust and dirt. The floors and the walls to the non-existent ceiling above were all pristine and lacked any sort of imperfection. That was it. There was nothing else. There was no throne to sit on. There were no windows to gaze out of. There were no pebbles to talk and mingle with. The most interesting, unmoving thing here was the pedestal. She presumed that White didn’t spend all day just standing up on a pedestal and had some sort of way to request materials. She didn’t know though. Just like everyone else, she didn’t know much about White.  
  
Pink Diamond was worried. The events that had preceded today were outrageous and unbelievable. She saw all the reactions of the Diamonds and even their Pearls. It was a mix of horror, fear, outrage, uncertainty, and much more. She felt all of it. The future was dim, having no idea of what would happen next. Would she once again be imprisoned in the tower for a few years? Would she be punished for things and events out of her control? Would she be instead left alone in White’s ship instead of the tower? She didn’t know and she was worried. She hated it when every problem and mistake she had or hadn’t made led to her imprisonment somewhere. It was unfair and annoying. They couldn’t really do anything to physically hurt her. It just hurt when you didn’t have anyone to talk to for a few years or decades depending on the severity of her mistake. The way her Pearl garnered the attention of the whole court would have been worrisome if it wasn’t for White. White would take care of things. She would take care of her Pearl… just like last time.

Pink Diamond was uncomfortable. Within her normal time-out chamber, there were at least windows to look out of. She had a way to know that the world was still running outside and it didn’t make her worried. She even had occasional visits from Blue and Yellow, albeit them being angry. She would rather be surrounded by an angry family than no one at all. That statement was wrong though. She wasn’t alone in White’s ship. Even if she surely felt alone, that wasn’t true. _She_ was here. She assumed that White Pearl was here to make sure she didn’t do anything. It always felt uncomfortable whenever she was in the same room with her. She was a reminder of all of her mistakes and missteps. The prison was not a reminder of her failures, for that was always temporary. There was never a time where she was stuck in there forever. White Pearl was not the same. Previously her Pearl, from a fun and outspoken gem, now a husk of its former person. 

Pink didn’t know what else to do, prompting to go up the steps of the podium. Once she was on top, she gazed around the room for anything interesting to throw her attention at. There was nothing and nobody but _her._ She sighed before taking a seat on top of the podium. She placed her hand on the floor of the podium, trying to imagine and feel what White would imagine. As expected, she struggled. She knew that White valued power and perfection. She knew what it meant to be a leader for everybody. Within this lifeless room though, there was nothing here. There was no feeling of family or leadership. This was just the image of perfection. The room was both everything and nothing at the same time. She hated it here even more than the tower. 

Pink’s gaze would be drawn to the gem who was standing in the far front of the room. So pristine and so precise, everything about her, to the crisp folds of her outfit to the clean hairstyle she adored. Everything would have been right if it wasn’t for the crack. She had caused that. Because of her temper and raging tantrums, she had hurt someone. She had _hurt._ She had caused pain because of her actions. The horror of finding out what she had done made _her_ hurt as well. She didn’t know why. She didn’t understand what it meant to feel pain from the suffering of others. It was one of the few times where Blue would hug her instead of imprisoning her. She buried her face into her hands, not understanding anything. Today was just a cacophony of emotion and knowledge- or the lack of it. Now, she was trapped in a desolate room, with an unfixable gem as her only company. She didn’t deserve this. 

Pink Diamond didn’t know what to feel. On one hand, she could curl up and cry. Why would she though? These were not sad times. These were not events she should be crying about. Being inside a room with someone that brought back memories- they were in the past. She couldn’t keep crying and being emotional over the past. She didn’t particularly want to do that right now anyway. On the other hand, she could stomp around and wreck everything in her path because of anger and fury. Why would she though? There was nothing to be angry about. There was no point in being angry. Blue wasn’t being unfair, Yellow wasn’t being a jerk, White wasn’t doing anything to her while she had done nothing herself. It was weird how you could justify _not_ using emotions as crutches. Logic would prevail when emotion didn’t. Out of all the Diamonds, she was the one who always wore her gem on her sleeve. It didn’t mean there was always a proper reason to do so. What to do now? 

Pink would lift her face out of her hands to take a good look at what she _could_ look at. White Pearl continued to stand there in the distance, unmoving and unblinking. She would be attempting conversation with a rock. Well, they were all technically rocks so it didn’t make sense. Explaining jokes sucked. She stilled her mind to focus on the task at hand: talking with White Pearl. There was a reason she was here. White Pearl was observing her, making sure she stayed put. What would she do anyway? She _could_ break out of her and disobey White’s wishes… Then what? She got a good look outside and broke out, just for the sake of breaking out. There was absolutely no point. She could bypass a mere Pearl yet there was no reason to. Instead, they would talk instead. Even if it was going to be a one-sided conversation.  
  
“So… How are you?” Such a horrible response. Her face would cringe and her body would recoil on itself. Imagine visibly recoiling because of your own actions... What kind of answer did she think she’d receive? _I’m fine, I’m just being controlled by White because of you._ To think that she’d lived thousands of eons only to mess up such simple things such as doing conversation. She guessed this was why all the Diamonds were so hard on her. As to be expected, there was no response from Pearl. It didn’t mean she should stop. “I didn’t mean it.” The words that had tumbled out of her mouth were strange. It was just something that had immediately gone out without any thought. This must have been on her mind for eons.  
  
“I didn’t mean it.” Pink reiterated to White Pearl, hoping that she could hear. She could most definitely hear. It didn’t mean she was listening. It sounded though that she wasn’t only convincing her but also herself. Whatever she had done, she didn’t mean it. She took a good look at Pearl’s unmoving face. She swore that she was looking at her but at the same time, not really seeing. Her gaze would naturally go up to the crack marring her face. The crack reached all the way down to her left eye, making it useless. She would force herself to look away, proceeding to look at her hands instead. They were shaking.   
  
What had she done over the past thousand of eons? With all this power, fame and fortune, what had she decided to do with it. What had she done with her powers instead of destroyed? What had she done with her fame as a Diamond instead of begging to be one? What had she done with her life of luxury as a living deity aside from being her? Pink would have preferred not to run with this train of thought yet it happened anyway. She kept on thinking and thinking on what could have been instead of what could be. Once again, she decides to reiterate it. “I didn’t mean it.” She would stand up from her seated position, now feeling significantly taller. Pearl seemed to be less scary as well.  
  
“I never meant it.” She never did. There was no part in her that wanted to hurt anyone. She wanted the good for everyone and everything. She wanted everyone to be happy and joyful. She would have never hurt her. It was an unstated fact that all the Diamonds adored their Pearls. Despite being servants under the court, they were the closest thing they had to confidants and friends that weren’t fellow Diamonds. At the end of the day, these _servants_ were family. Blue cared for her Pearl, letting her do whatever she wanted as long as she finished her duty. Yellow was much more strict yet she too cared for her Pearl, letting her express herself. Each of the Pearls now mimicked their respective Diamonds so much that it was hard to imagine the Great Diamond Authority without them. Gems who only saw the Diamonds as the major contributor to their success failed to see the bigger picture. The Diamonds needed the Pearls and they cared for them. 

What had she done with hers? That was the hard part. To admit that she had hurt a Pearl. To admit that she had hurt one of her own- it was too painful to even think about. Yet it was directly right in front of her. The visage of her mistakes, the personification of her anger and the very reason why she had a new Pearl. Right in front of her, she stood as if nothing had ever happened. So still and lifeless, she continued to smile. There was nothing to smile about. There was nothing to be happy about. Yet she continued to do so. She continued to do so because she couldn’t do anything else. Forced into the position of ultimate subservience, she had no free will nor control of herself and her actions. She became a puppet. All because of her. Her hands continued to shake as it finally dawned on her. The truth finally revealed itself. She had chosen to _see_. Her actions led to this and it was all her fault. She closed her eyes for a moment. It may have been her actions. It may have been her fault. Nonetheless, she had never meant all of it. To intentionally bring pain to one was something she could never do- much less even think about. 

“I keep on thinking about the past. I keep on pondering over my mistakes and wrongdoings.” She would go down from the podium step by step, level with her. She continued to walk slowly. It would take ages but she would get there. “I think that’s where I have everything wrong. I cling to the past as if it could be changed. I cling to what has been, thinking that I can do anything to change it.” Pink laughs, shaking her head at the mere thought of changing the past. How delusional and crazy to mess with reality itself. She knew what she had to do. She knew the right thing to be done. “I’ve got it. I _understand._ It may have taken me ages for the others to drill into my head but I finally get it!” A bit closer to White Pearl, it would only take moments before she was right in front of her. “I have to fix it _now._ I have to fix my mistakes now when I can.” Now, she was directly right in front of her. White Pearl would be forced to look up to continue observing Pink with her clinical smile. “Let me fix you.” 

There was only one problem. A massive roadblock in her path of redemption. There was no response from White Pearl. She just continued to observe, stature rigid as she displayed her horrible smile for everyone to see. There was no response and there never was going to be any response. She may have been smiling but Pink’s smile would slowly dissipate into a frown. It was times like these where she didn’t understand anything. The times she had wanted to do good, the times she had wanted everything to be better, she was always met with a wall of opposition. She couldn’t solve this problem because she was given no choice to move. What had been done in the past was now never to be reverted back. No matter how hard she had tried to fix anything, she never could. She turned around, facing the podium instead of White Pearl. She was angry. She was furious. It made her emotions suddenly turn around from calm to rage. She wasn’t looking at anything. Not the dark ceiling or the crystal white podium or White Pearl. She didn’t notice that her hands weren’t shaking anymore. She didn’t notice that they were instead clenched into fists.  
  
The aura around the room darkened. From peaceful and still came waves of heaviness and disappointment. Gone was the room’s sense of perfection and overwhelming white. Instead, it was replaced by an abundance of oppressive pink. White was neutral. Too bright and it hurt, too dark and you couldn’t see. Pink could be much worse. Such a bright color could be so pretty and vivid yet it never occurred to anyone that pink hurt much more. The pain it felt to be in her aura was so vivid and heavy, it felt as if she was being crushed by thousands of needles all around her. She never noticed that White Pearl’s smile was gone. There was a massive frown instead. This was not perfect. Her mouth swayed and quivered as she struggled to _feel_ Pink’s aura. White Pearl did not know why she wasn’t staying in position. She didn’t know why she had begun to _feel_. She didn’t know why she had suddenly begun to feel overwhelming fear. Her aura would continue to dwarf her small form as she struggled to stay standing upright. What was this feeling? 

A foreign sound. A different output. The sound of an electronic chime buzzed throughout the air. It resonated so deeply within Pink Diamond and White Pearl, both hearing the sound. Someone rang the door. Someone was outside. Immediately, the crushing aura was gone. The thousands of prickling needles all over quickly left, as if it was never here. As if Pink was never here. As if she wasn’t angry. White Pearl wasn’t frowning anymore. Again, she wore her smile as if nothing had happened. She didn’t know why it felt so much harder to smile. White Pearl would turn around, placing her hand on the panel on the door. A massive screen would pop up instead of the door itself actually opening. Orders were orders and she wasn’t going to open this door until White Diamond ordered her to.

The screen that had popped up would display Yellow and Blue Pearl who were outside the ship’s very doors. Yellow was upfront who wore a displeased look while Blue was behind her, peeking over her shoulder, simply waiting and acting nonchalant. “Yellow and Blue Diamond have requested to speak with White Diamond.” White Pearl continued to smile as if they didn’t say anything. They were lucky she didn't immediately drop the screen. They weren’t so lucky judging on what she was going to do next. “I’m sorry. White is unavailable. Thank you for your cooperation.” Yellow Pearl was about ready to shout but was interrupted by the call going down. After a few moments, she turned around to face Pink Diamond who was now seated on the podium, facing away from her.

Once again, silence reigned at the very end. Pink didn’t know what to do anymore. This time, instead of doing anything at all, she decided to do nothing but wait. There was bound to be nothing she could mess up if she were to do nothing. This was the easy part. She was used to this. She would have heard the conversation behind her but decided not to take any part of it. Blue and Yellow were looking for White. She didn’t even know where White was and she doubted her Pearl would say anything at all. That brought up a few questions though. What made Blue and Yellow so antsy so as to call White and then physically demand her presence? It was probably regarding the hologram her Pearl had viewed to all of them. Where _was_ her Pearl? She assumed that her Pearl was with White but she couldn’t be too sure. As long as she was returned safely to her side, she was going to be ok with it. Where would White be anyway? What would she be doing? Those were the questions she didn’t even know the vaguest hints of answers to. So many mysteries just fueled the flame to her burning curiosity

* * *

The innate response of all beings was to survive. Rarely did anything ever come first. The same would happen to Pearl. It wouldn’t even dawn on her for a few moments that she had been swallowed at all. She was so focused on the past, overlooking her memories that she wasn’t aware. She had let her guard down once again because of her unruly emotions. Nevertheless, it was now pointless to recall on previous mistakes. Disappointment. Where had all her focus gone into? The memories that she had so obviously fell in must have been too much for her. All her senses were so diluted and uncoordinated that it must have been no surprise that she was unable to hear, smell or even be aware to any degree about a giant animal lurking on her. This big of an animal should have been easy to spot but once again, due to her conditions, she wasn’t able to sense it. 

It was sticky. Pearl figured that she must have been inside the esophagus of the predator. Judging by how sticky, slimy and smelly her surroundings were, it was no surprise that she immediately wanted out. It was a good thing that she didn’t lose her reactions. At the very last moment, she had been able to spread out her arms and legs so as she didn’t just slide down to the stomach. She didn’t feel like being ingested alive and slowly being consumed by stomach acid, no thanks. Pearl wanted to live. She had a mission to do. Wouldn’t it be disappointing to have gone so far only to die in the pits of some hungry animal who mistook her for edible food. She would rather die from embarrassment than this. 

She wasn’t _actually_ grabbing onto anything, more like lodging her limbs onto muscle flaps. She was stuck for the moment but it was surely better than sliding to her death. It seemed that the beast outside wasn’t moving much, now having eaten it’s fair share of daily protein. Pearl shivered, not knowing if she was disgusted by the process of digestion or her being eaten. They were both equal punishments of their own. There was no imminent danger of being shattered now that she wasn’t falling any further down. Moving might make her fall so she stayed still. Opening her mouth and calling for help was stupid as well. She wouldn’t willingly open her mouth right now, especially with all the slime and monster gunk all over her. There was a _reason_ she despised eating. Now she was practically living her nightmare. 

It was a good thing that during her time on Earth, she had taken to studying different subjects. Earth technology might have been outdated compared to their own yet everything else was interesting, some even beneficial. She had learned multiple languages, delved on different subjects and topics and even added her own input and research to already existing ones. She would have felt smug because she learned anatomy whilst the other gems deemed it _unneccessary._ It didn’t feel right either as she was literally being eaten alive by the subject of her studies. It also felt wrong to say “I told you” to gems who were dead, some not even existing yet right now. Pearl would internally shake her head, wondering why her train of thought suddenly went to this. _Focus Pearl!_ She would chant in her head, thinking of a way to get out of here.  
  
There would be no room to grab her spear out of her gem. She didn’t dare move an inch, knowing how precarious her situation was. That left her with little to no options of getting out of here. That didn’t mean she should stop. _Observe your surroundings._ The environment she was in was fairly dim. It didn’t help at all that there was only moonlight outside. It hit her. Her gem was able to produce light. That meant she had to use what little energy she had left. She didn’t know what option she had left either way, having left her bag of equipment back at the campsite. _Blame your emotions for this hell you’re in._ She sure as hell wasn’t going to get out of this if her mindset was like that. Pearl would use some of her remaining power, the internals of the beast now being lit up. Pearl hadn’t eaten anything since _Cookie Cat_ yet she somehow felt justified to throw up then and there, regardless if she had anything in her. 

She shuddered, being able to see exactly what she was stuck in- pulsating, red, muscular flesh. No matter how much reading, she was _never_ prepared to actually see how anatomy actually worked. She couldn’t bring herself to look at pictures. Now she was living it. Hands-on experimentation was not on her to-do list today, tomorrow, or the next few eons. Apparently, fate got tired with her squirming and decided to just throw her in it. She would tilt her head down, seeing nothing but darkness down there. Nope- no way she was letting herself fall down. Now that she had seen everything, the only thing left to do was get out of her.  
  
Pearl considered her options. She could cut her way out of the monster. That would create more problems for her though, seeing as she wasn’t even able to get a weapon from her gem without falling. That was one solution down. Her mind whizzed as it struggled to think of any other way to get out of here. It offered one of the most disgusting solutions ever. If she had nothing else to do, she could let herself fall down and _hope_ she would land on something solid instead of falling in acid and random juices. She was not going to let that be her last resort. It was then that she would remember Amethyst choking on a twelve foot Subway sandwich. She could never have imagined in her whole life that she would thank Amethyst for eating and subsequently choking on food. Today had many firsts for her.

Her position was enough that she wasn’t going to fall but wasn’t enough to actually make the being notice that something was stuck on it’s esophagus. She could easily change that though. There were going to be no regrets today. She had two choices of going out and she definitely wasn’t going to go through _that_ option. She would suddenly spread out her legs and arms, stretching the esophagus of the beast to its limits. Pearl couldn’t help but wonder if a sudden rumbling was a good or bad sign. Any sign at all should have been a good thing but she couldn’t help but treat it as a bad thing. When she stopped moving, the rumbling would stop. That wouldn’t do.

She would once again extend her arms, pushing the slimy walls away from her so that the beast would become irritated. It seemed it was starting to work, the rumbling once again starting to act up. Pearl would be surprised when the esophagus suddenly jerked front and back, almost slipping down. Who knew it was so dizzy and confusing to become ingested. She most definitely was going to be sick after this torment she had gone through. She wouldn’t hesitate continuing to apply pressure. It would only be a few moments later where the shaking would stop. She wouldn’t be prepared for what was coming next. The esophagus muscles would start pulling her up. She would smile as freedom was inevitable. If only she hadn’t opened her mouth when the rest of the beast’s stomach would come up as well.

It was unceremonious how she was just dumped on the floor along with the rest of the beast’s bowels. She gagged herself, trying to cough out whatever had entered her mouth. Thank goodness she actually hadn’t swallowed anything. It was only then that she realized that, despite laying in a puddle of vomit, there was still a large threat behind her. She would immediately stand up, thankfully not slipping on any vomit as she faced the beast. It was a giant bird who seemed to be confused. Food didn’t normally squirm and go back out. Food went in and it stayed in. The bird was so confused that it only looked at Pearl, tilting its head in curiosity.  
  
Pearl wasn’t sure what to do. She was surprised that the giant bird wasn’t immediately attacking her. She _could_ attack it but she was pretty sure she would lose and once again be eaten. There was no way she could go back in there. Diplomacy was another option…

* * *

Sapphires were important. They saw possible futures, provided valuable information to their higher ups and essentially made sure that nothing could and would go wrong. Their power was so important that it took massive amounts of time and resources to create one. Rushing these gems led to defects, rendering them useless. It was why there were so few Sapphires under the Great Diamond Authority. Because of the sheer price and effort to create, only every other century do they ever make one more. There was no need to create more assets if their current assets were already enough.  
  
Sapphires were protected. They were always escorted everywhere by a designated security team, usually composed of Rubies. Depending on the danger of the environment and the standing of the Sapphire, they could either be flanked with a couple of Rubies or had multiple teams on them. This Sapphire though was different. Specifically made to work directly under the Great Diamond Authority, she was perfect. Her future vision was the clearest among all of the Sapphires and offered the best information. She saw multiple futures yet always knew what the most likely one was.  
  
Sapphires were needed. Everywhere a Diamond went, there would always be a Sapphire in her court. There would never be a time where a Diamond would be without a Sapphire. They were the visionaries of the court and were too valuable to not be brought with. Being a different and perfect Sapphire was not always better though. She couldn’t remember the last time she saw any other sky than homeworld. She couldn’t remember seeing any other gem but her constant guard of multiple Rubies. She couldn’t remember seeing anything new, always being greeted by the beautiful decor and the bountiful royal gardens. She couldn’t remember ever being outside of the palace. She was such a valuable asset that she was never taken anywhere, the only Sapphire to never leave Homeworld.  
  
She had dreams. She wished that one day, she were able to explore the stars and the vast darkness of space. She so desperately desired for a change of surroundings that she often spent hours upon hours on end simply looking up at space. Her wishes and desires were nothing though in the face of her Diamond’s. Despite being under her court, being at the very top of gem society, it didn’t mean she was free to bend the rules. If anything, she was even more pinned down by it. At the end of the day, she could only do what her Diamond wished for. 

Sapphire saw her Diamond requesting her presence. Without hesitation, she would start walking towards her palace. The Rubies would follow suit, flanking around her. It would be hard to see the Blue in the sea of Red. What her Diamond would ask of her, she did not know. She presumed that a problem must have arised as there wouldn’t be any other reason for her summons. She would not be called for because of her. She would be called for because of her power. She would only be called for because she was needed- nothing else. Step by step, it only took a few moments to reach her Diamond’s palace. She didn’t need to say anything, her Rubies breaking off to stand by the door. She alone would enter. Nobody else’s presence was required.  
  
Her Diamond was covered in darkness, yet it never ceased to amaze her how she was able to make it seem as if it was never there. She would take a couple steps forward, curtsying. Her Diamond stayed silent. She never liked wasting time for chitchat, especially with lower gems such as her. It was understandable as she always had much more work in front of her. Trust her, Sapphire always knew. Without hesitating, she would state her presence.  
  
“Greetings, My Diamond. What is to be the reason for my summons?” It was short and concise. This was much better than wasting the time of her Diamond by constantly adding more and more pointless observations and details. There was no need to compliment her Diamond, for you couldn’t compliment perfection. It was better to only state what was necessary. 

“What do you see?” Such a simple question yet so sophisticated as well. It was complicated to answer these vague questions yet she had a job to do. She was going to do it or risk being shattered and replaced. That simply wouldn’t do. Sapphire closed her eyes and began to see.

_Fire. There was fire everywhere. The flames stood tall, towering over her on both sides. They burned bright and harsh yet it seemed to emanate no light on it’s own. The smoke was dark and thick, wafting past her as she struggled to make out what she was seeing. It was too dark to see, the smoke too thick to see past, the fire too noisy to make anything out of. It was chaos. It was anarchy. It was the future._

_There was no point standing idly, so she began to walk forwards. The flames would stretch on yet it would slowly grow smaller and smaller as she walked farther away. The longer she walked, less flames would be seen on her sides yet the same acrid smell stayed. The dark, wafts of black smoke would turn into fog. She still could not see. The absence of crackling fire made it easier to hear now. She stopped to listen. The clanging of swords on shields, sounds of poofing and shattering, the crash of metal on ground, the snapping of tree branches- all she was able to make out were the sounds of chaos. The screams were terrifying, it made her scared. A very sharp and loud sound pinged, the sound propagating forward as it slowly began to decay. She was startled by the loud sound but shook her head. This was no time to stop. She pushed on forward._

_The fog was thicker and ever. She was confused. There was no more fire. There were no more flames. There were no more sounds as well. She was left in pitch black. She was unsure of where to go. There was nowhere else to go but forwards, so she continued. She was aware the very moment there had been a change of level. She had to use more effort as she began to climb steeper and steeper. A bright light at the top shone overhead but she couldn’t see clearly. The fog was too great here. She must climb. Each and every step seemed more precarious than ever. Handholds and footholds began to dwindle as she climbed higher. The bright light was so close. It was as if she could grasp it in her very hands.  
  
She saw it. Three figures of light. Three vague shadows stretching into oblivion. They stood at the top. Before she was about to get any closer, everything would rumble. A crack, a slip and she was falling and falling and falling…  
  
_She fell on her fours, feeling exhausted. The acrid taste of burning flames and smoke lingered on her mouth. It didn’t register to her that she was sweating as well. She struggled to lift up her head so as to look at her Diamond. A raspy voice cut through the silence.

“My Diamond… I saw…” She struggled to find the correct way to word all that she had just experienced. It would take a moment to finally find the right word to describe it all.  
  
“...chaos.”

* * *

Peridot facet-1a6l cut 1-xg was one of the most valuable gems of her kind on Homeworld. She had hundreds of responsibilities, always working and supervising, worked directly under the Great Diamond Authority and was essentially the supervisor who led her fellow Peridots to success. It was a tedious and sometimes monotonous job but it was still her job nonetheless. What was assigned to her, she would do. Any order and any objective, she would pull through no matter what the circumstances were. It was simply expected of her. There was no reward for success as it was mandatory to accomplish everything without any hindrance. The only thing there was to fear was failure. Two failures and she was gone.

It was a good thing that there were no red marks on her yet as she was sure she would be dead if it weren’t for that. The biggest and most important job they had was to monitor everything and everyone on and outside Homeworld. There were hundreds of thousands of gems and processes they had to constantly watch over yet it could be done. She didn’t do it alone though as she always had a team of gems under her to assist. She would do her job and they would do theirs and that would be the end of it. As long as there were no mistakes, all of them were able to live another day without fear of being shattered. All of them knew what would happen if they were to fail so they _always_ made sure that they didn’t.  
  
It didn’t mean that it couldn’t happen. It was impossible that mistakes and errors wouldn’t occur. That didn’t mean they wouldn’t just stand around and do nothing. Their next objective was damage control. Minimize the amount of damage so as not to warrant a red mark on their cards. It was important that they kept everything on its tracks so as not to derail anything. Homeworld wasn’t an empire built out of imagination. It was an empire made out of systems and links. One weak link had the potential to halt the massive machine they were on. It was _their_ job to make sure that that machine kept on running.

There was something wrong. Alarms and beeps sounded all over in the control room, the Peridots not knowing what just happened to warrant such alarm. It was _very_ clear that something was wrong and something had just happened. It didn’t make sense. None if it made sense. She would rush from her observation window into the control room, doing what everything else was doing: staring at the large screen. None of it made sense. She knew that none of them would even know what this meant. This only meant one other option.  
  
Without hesitation she began to run.

* * *

“I would have preferred to bring my guitar on hand instead of leaving it in Pearl’s gem to be honest…” Ruby wasn’t picky… much. She didn’t complain about anything today. It felt wrong to complain in the worst of situations and it also felt extremely disheartening. People usually complained because they couldn’t get things done. There really was no point in complaining if no one could do anything about it, right? It was just too tiring to be picky about things you couldn’t be picky about. That didn’t mean that she couldn’t be picky every now and then.  
  
Now that things have managed to cool down, both the situation and the gems in it, she figured that it wouldn’t hurt to try. “I’m thinking that I’d be able to whip out a song right here and now.” She would imitate holding a guitar in her hands and playing with it as she was standing up on a rock. Songs and music were both staples back in Homeworld and on Earth. People just sang or danced when they felt like it. When gems and people were literally feeling anything, there was probably a song that could accompany it. Music was weird but it somehow fit. It was also pretty fun to do something besides talking about serious topics. 

Lapis just shrugged at her statement. She continued to chuck sticks into the tiny fire they had built, continuing to wonder when Pearl would be coming back. That annoying gem _should_ have been back by now. She would have preferred to be on the move so as to actually be doing something productive instead of waiting around a campfire like a bunch of idiots. She would look at Ruby who seemed to be trying her best at playing an air guitar. She’d stop chucking sticks in the fire and decided to throw one at Ruby’s face. “You look like an idiot.”

The stick did nothing to her. It was a _stick._ Ruby would have been pretty weak to flinch at a stick. She’d have survived a galactic war, direct attacks from Diamonds and time travel only to be beaten by a stick. It was one thing fighting a winnable cause or a defeatable enemy. You couldn’t exactly beat a stick though and it was infuriating. Instead, she glared at a snickering Lapis before going back to her performance. “I am _not_ an idiot, thank you very much. I’m a cowboy.” She would drop her air guitar and pointed her fingers at Lapis like they were guns. “Bang. The dead can’t speak.”

Lapis deadpanned at her. No emotion or expression was visible on her face for a moment. She would instead ruffle through her bag, grabbing something before pointing it at Ruby as well. Now, Lapis had her own gun. This time, it was _actually_ functional. She would lazily point it at Ruby, grinning slightly as she saw the look on her face. “Bang.” She’d blow off the imaginary smoke on her real pistol, eyebrow raised. “The dead can’t speak.” Lapis would chuckle, shaking her head at their antics. People say that comedy aged like fine-wine. Their comedy seemed to age backwards.

Ruby would roll her eyes, taking a seat on her rock next to the campfire. She had to admit that despite the small actions, this was one of the most fun moments she’s had in months. She would take a glance at Lapis who was only now recovering from her laugh attack. “I distinctly remember finger guns working… maybe it’s because I don’t have the look?” Ruby would only be more irritated when Lapis would once again laugh. “Don’t laugh. I actually rocked that look once. Even scared a snake off!”

Lapis struggled to imagine Ruby in a cowboy outfit. She struggled even worse when she thought of her making a snake go away. She would bring up her hand to her mouth, deciding to just turn her laugh into a nasty cough instead. Like Ruby would fall for that, judging by the look on her face. She’d lay down on the grass to look up at the stars, sighing when reality came reeling back in. This was temporary. This light-hearted fun wouldn’t last. Lapis sighed, trying to spot any constellation she knew in the sky. Nothing. She would turn to Ruby who was still seated on the rock. Instead of the sky, Ruby was transfixed on the fire. “I wish it could have been simpler.”  
  
Ruby continued to stare into the flames, seeing a reflection of herself on it. She looked so innocent and carefree. She worried about the little things, like how Sapphire would feel if she did this. She laughed and smiled and generally didn’t care about the world around her. A strong wind would suddenly make the fire go out, leaving her staring at a puddle instead. She didn’t even want to describe what she saw. “Same.”

Silence once again reigned. It would be only a few moments later where they’d be interrupted by the beating of wings. 

**Chapter 4 END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AO3 is a dick. Keep on retrying to post the same thing. Had to retype my author's notes multiple times. It was fine at first but it really got annoying when I had to spend 30 minutes just to get this chapter posted.
> 
> Thanks to everyone.
> 
> Comment and Kudos.
> 
> Sala out- 
> 
> <3 pissed af <3


	5. Malfunction

_ “Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.” - Anne Frank _

**Chapter 5**

* * *

_ “Lapis... Lapis. Lapis. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up, Lapis!” She groaned, putting the pillow on top of her head so as to muffle that one particular annoying alarm clock. It was simply uncalled for to be woken up at such an early time. In her five second span of momentary consciousness, she was pretty sure the sun wasn’t even up. Lapis wasn’t the kind of person to be mad. She wouldn’t just combust in anger and fury for every single mistake. Those were impossible to avoid, so why put the effort in getting mad at all? But, being woken up was part of the complete opposite. It was totally worth it to get mad if she was ever woken up, which worsens when her dreams were interrupted. _

_ It seemed as if her assailant wasn’t done attempting to squish all her joy down the drain for today. Pesky, annoying, intolerable, irritating, infuriating, and maddening- words she could describe for her troublesome roommate. Maybe if she just ignored her, then she’d think that she wasn’t down to wake up at this hour. Oh, she definitely wasn’t, butt didn’t mean she couldn’t and both of them knew that. Apparently, her aggressor didn’t pay attention to the social cues, judging by the sudden chill on her back. Immediately, she cringed, bursting straight up into a sitting position. It was too bad she was still too groggy and confused to strangle that gem’s neck. Said gem didn’t even wait for her as the only thing Lapis saw was the swinging of the door. Lapis groaned before plopping back on her bed, only to remember that the cold was still there. Her fall on the comedic would have been funny if it was someone else.  _

_ Lapis wobbly stood up, her gaze landing on her bed. So comfortable and inviting yet so foreign and alien at the same time. She blamed it because of the giant water stain on the bed. “Damn it.” She would once again glance at the door, expecting a pair of shiny visors to reflect back at her yet there was nothing. Groaning in irritation, she rubbed her eyes to get herself awake. Hell, the moment that she shouted in her ear, she was wide awake, who was she kidding? One longing glance at her ruined bed, she sighed before summoning water to bubble the entire mattress. There was no point in getting it anymore wet than it already was. The bed was too far gone. With the mattress bubble behind her, Lapis went for the barn door and stepped outside. Good god it was cold. Gems weren’t supposed to even feel moderate temperatures yet here she was shivering in early morning weather. She was getting soft. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Lapis looked up at the stars. It was beautiful. They sparkled and twinkled off in the distance not even reached by humans yet. She herself had seen dozens of stars up close yet it always felt different to see from the ground, looking up. It felt different to see the bigger picture. How does one star compare when she could see the entire cosmos? Judging by the positions of the stars, it was about three in the morning. As usual, her roommate woke her up at the worst possible times to ever be imagined. Her gaze would be drawn to a familiar figure at distance over the top of a hill. Lapis groaned, wondering what possible reason she had to wake her up. All her reasons were usually just excuses to get her up and help around with the barn. It wasn’t her fault their place was horrible! Lapis would reluctantly agree, though that it would be much better and cozier if she had helped more. Nevertheless, it was no excuse to be woken up at three in the morning. Before she forgot, she flicked her hand and snapped her fingers. The mattress bubble would soar up to the roof of the barn before popping. The mattress laid still while the water drained down into their waterhole. She didn’t even need to look. _

_ It would only take a couple more steps before she neared the alarm clock that was her roommate. Without question, she would begin to shoot back. “Do you even know what time it is?” She didn’t seem to care, continuing to type whatever the hell she was typing on her tablet- screen thing. This would only annoy Lapis more. She would stomp in front of Peridot’s vision so that there was no way she wouldn’t see her. What confused her was the blank screen that Peridot was typing on. If anything, she should be mad that Peridot seemed to be typing nothing. Lapis chose to ignore the trickery of the tablet. Once again, she went back to her tirade before she forgot what she was doing here in the first place. “You know how you can forget your dreams if you suddenly wake up? What am I even saying- of course you know!” Because why wouldn’t the high and mighty triangle nerd not know? “I had such a great dream. Well, it was going great before you woke me up!” It wasn’t until she stopped that she had noticed she was pacing on the floor.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ It was here that Peridot would decide to step in and speak up. Apparently, it could only take a couple of words to completely diminish her anger, fury and rage. She would look up from her tablet, only taking notice of Lapis now. “What was the dream about?” Damn. It took five words to make Lapis completely silent. The silence would mean that Peridot gained a point. The rising blush and sudden uncomfort she would be experiencing would give her more than nine thousand. There would be absolutely no way that she would be describing her dream to her. She would rather be trapped in that mirror again, and that was saying something. At least she’d stay alive in the mirror. She wouldn’t want to die from sheer embarrassment. She would instead do something else. A tactic she liked to use when things got out of hand- turning the situation around. Who didn’t like deliberately changing topics of conversations? “Nevermind that! Why did you wake me up in the first place?”  _

_ Peridot would raise her eyebrows when she began to notice how flustered Lapis was. It took much, much longer and harder to make Lapis flustered, especially with how cold she could sometimes be. It seemed as if this dream she was talking about was the reason for her current situation. Peridot grinned when she saw the confusion on Lapis’ face who seemed to be attempting to change the conversation. Nevertheless, this was not the day to annoy her. She had already won multiple times. She had to focus. Peridot would place her hand on Lapis’ shoulder, turning her head to look at the dark horizon. It was a shame she didn’t notice the blush on Lapis further growing. “It’s a surprise… Have you finally perfected the art of flying blind?” _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Lapis wouldn’t understand the context of the question. It felt so out of place that she just stood there like a gaping idiot. “Well?” Peridot would prompt, making her shake her head so as to focus. The surprise thing was a normal thing her roommate would do, yet it still felt weird when the sentence directly after that was pertaining to her ability to fly with a blindfold on. “Well…” She would rub the back of her neck, not knowing what to say. Had she been practicing? No, not really. Peridot had kept on drilling her nonstop a few months back about this. It only took multiple promises to get her off her back. She had always thought this was some prank she was playing. Now, when it was actually legit, she couldn’t help but feel ashamed, especially with how Peridot was looking so expectantly at her. Peridot would notice this, her grip somehow firm yet softening on her shoulder. “It’s ok. We can work through this together.” _ _   
_ _   
_ _ From being rudely woken up, splashed by water to getting flustered right in front of Peridot felt like ages ago. Now, she was most likely thousands of feet in the air, carrying another gem on her back, while being blindfolded. She could say that this was all fine and dandy but it really wasn’t. The urge to rip off the blindfold right then and there was so strong yet she suppressed the urge. Mainly because one, this was an experiment. A trust experiment to be exact. There was no reason to fear Peridot’s commands. All she had to do was listen and follow obediently and there would be no reason. Peridot wouldn’t just order her to fly straight into a wall. That would be… undesirable. This trust experiment needed to succeed. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Her second reason wasn’t really a viable reason from an objective standpoint but she stood by it. She didn’t want to hurt Peridot’s feelings. Sure, she might have been a cold-hearted dick head in the first few months but she really didn’t mean it. She genuinely thought Peridot was going to play some trick on her and send her back as a captive to Homeworld. When it was evident that it wasn’t, it left her confused on what to do next. All she had done since the unfortunate day was keeping her shields up and alert. Now, she was going to slowly lower them. Just for her. She didn’t know where they were going but she knew it was going to be worth it. Anywhere she went, as long as she had someone by her side- especially Peridot, she was happy. _

_ It was a good thing that the flying conditions were perfect. There was barely any wind to cause them to jitter around and there was no harsh sun to blind Peridot. Essentially, they were extremely lucky. She couldn’t help but think if Peridot actually planned said surprise to the extent of planning the wind speed. It would have been so her. She was still curious as to where they were going though. It wouldn’t hurt to ask questions anyway. “Did you plan this… you know, all of this?” What a way to start the conversation. But hey, it wasn’t everyday you were blindfolded with your crush on your back. She would push that thought back into the deep recesses of her mind and forever bury it. There was nothing but the wind hitting them. Confused, she would turn her head around, slightly expecting Peridot to not even be there. It wouldn’t trigger that she was wearing a blindfold so turning around was pointless. Peridot not being on her back was dead wrong. She was right there. Her sudden movement would cause them to sway a bit. Only a high-pitched “Eep!” would be her final warning before it happened. Lapis would feel Peridot’s arms digging around her neck even tighter as she started to struggle to word anything out. It would be harder for her to stabilize because of the sudden pain on her neck but it would be doable. A couple of moments later, they weren’t spinning around and were stable enough. “Peri- Can’t speak.” She couldn’t help but wince at her own gravelly voice. The grip around her neck would loosen, immediately feeling relief at the comfort of freedom. “What’s wrong?” _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “Heights.” She could have never guessed that she would have been afraid of heights. Maybe it wasn’t exactly the heights. It might have been the fall. Right, Peridot was an era-2 gem who had little to no powers besides knowledge. It was no surprise that Peridot would be scared of falling from thousands of meters in the air without any way to control herself. “It’s fine. I won’t drop you.” She would think Peridot’s silence meant uncertainty. “I promise.” This time, she actually meant it. It would seem that her passenger would relax as well, feeling the tension slowly ease away. “Thanks…” There was no need to talk for the rest of the ride. Oddly comforting, they continued their journey. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ It would take only a few more minutes before Peridot would bark out commands for her to descend. "Descend slowly, don’t drop". She was very tempted to just close her wings and drop but she would rather live another day than be pummeled to death by an annoying triangle. “There’s a flat piece of land over there. Don’t plummet into the ground like an idiot.” Peridot was far more talkative when there was nothing to hurt her, Lapis noted. Of course she wouldn’t crash. That would be far too stupid for her. “Too fast Lapis! Slow down!” Evidently, being blindfolded and attempting to land was not the greatest of ideas. Peridot’s warning came far too late.  _

_ They more or less plopped onto the mud. There wasn’t much of a crash. There was more sliding to it than actually crashing. Their landing trajectory landed them directly at the edge of a body of water. Well, she landed on the bank. She was fairly sure that Peridot had been launched off into the water. She wasn’t going to remove her blindfold though. “Peridot?” She would call out, worried that she may have accidentally poofed the gem. A splash of water on her right came forth an angry dorito. “I told you to slow down! What did you expect, going that fast when landing?” There was no real anger behind the words. Lapis would snicker while Peridot grumbled about wet hair and broken visors. Peridot would approach her, kneeling in front of her in the mud. “Right. This may not have been part of the plan… but at least we’re here. Steven told me I was supposed to give a speech regarding our friendship and all that but I think it got left behind while we were up there…” A moment of awkward silence later, Peridot decided to just cut in. “Let’s just do this. Happy one year anniversary of no attempted murders on me… wait, was that the correct thing to say?”  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Wacky statement ignored, Peridot would grab for her and blindfold and pull. Slowly, it fell. It would take a moment to see. What she saw was indescribable. Surely far better than her dreams. _

Lapis couldn’t help but stare at the sunrise slowly crawling up over the horizon. So many memories of the past, so much joy and love- now gone. No, she wasn’t going to let negative thoughts run through her right now. With this much beauty, it was hard not to remember everything, from the good memories to the bad ones. All manners of memories aside, it felt so much nicer to feel that she was still here with her. Right now, she would give anything to have her back.

* * *

Ruby could say that times were strange and confusing. Could she really though? As a Homeworld Gem under Blue’s command turned Crystal Gem under Rose’s, it felt like she’d lived at least eight lifetimes. When she was feeling particularly down, she could maybe just stretch it to about nine. She didn’t know why she had specific numbers for feelings and subjective details. Once again, if she kept on classifying everything as important and not important, she would be living a very tedious, monotonous and boring life in general. For her to classify this as a weird and confusing situation, she would first have to lay down the details. Maybe from the beginning.   
  
_ The beating of wings would be heard, turning the heads of the two gems to the sudden disturbance. There was still no sun outside, giving them no visibility. The small light of their campfire would act as a beacon for all the jungle and forest creatures. Ruby would wince as they would once again be caught off guard. She should take a shot every time they had let their guards down after landing on this hell-forsaken planet. Human, intoxicating substances were not a good mixture for gems. It would be a fun story to tell in the future but right now, they had enemies. Finding allies out here was slim to non-existent. Lapis would recognize the delicacy of their situation as well. She quickly ruffled through their bags, grabbing a submachine gun from her pack. She would also take out a pistol from the same pack, tossing it to her. Right now, it was either do or die. Ruby would nod in acknowledgement before heading for a tree to hide behind. Whatever their unexpected visitor was going to be, they weren’t going to let their guards down this time. She would lose sight of Lapis for a moment as they were both hiding in their own respective trees. She would check the ammo and then the safety, flicking it off. All or nothing now.  _

_ The beating of wings would stop. The creature was here somewhere yet it did not land. A moment's consideration led to the probability that the visitor was most likely gliding to descend. It would only be a few moments later when the creature would suddenly land on their beach down over there. Their positions now useless, Lapis and Ruby would move nearer to the beach, staying behind bushes and foliage so as not to be spotted.  _

_ It was a rather weird sight to see Pearl jump off the giant… thing’s back into the pond, disappearing under the water. A couple seconds later, her head would pop out, vaguely staring at the foliage of the forest. “You can stop hiding now! I got us a ride!” _ _   
_ _   
_ So many questions. So little answers. It was a rather hard thought to process. Well, it was easy to think about the bird they were riding on. It was easy to think that they finally had a method of transportation. What she struggled to ponder on was the why, the how, the when, the where. It was those kinds of thoughts that always made it so much harder to process. Where did Pearl go after she ran off? What did Pearl do to convince this beast to let them ride on it? How did she even encounter it in the first place? One other factor to asking these types was worth. Was it worth it to even ask these questions? If not, what kind of questions should she be asking at all?   
  
These were the types of things Pearl never said about dealing with time travel. Well, there were no classes about dealing with these kinds of things. She was pretty darn sure they were the first and only ones to ever do this. That didn’t make it any less confusing and heavy. If anything, knowing they were the first ones to ever do this probably just makes her more stressed. On one hand, if they could pull this off successfully, they could all celebrate and actually live their lives for once. On the other hand, if they didn’t and actually made things worse… Ruby didn’t like to think about the pessimistic options. She’d prefer to look at the bright side, even if said bright side was rather dark in itself.

A soldier didn’t ask questions. A soldier didn’t disobey orders. A soldier was trained or created to be able to do specific things under the worst of conditions. Manufactured, programmed, trained, created to do what no one else wanted to do. She was not made to be a tactician. She was not made to be a strategist. She was not made to be a thinker. She was made to do and only do. That didn’t mean she couldn't do most of these things. She was most likely the smartest, most cunning and deadly Ruby alive just because of sheer experience, not that she was bragging. She’d trade anything and everything to be simple and innocent with her family again.

It had been far too long already. Thousands of eons of all this pointless fighting, only for them to lose was a big blow. Now they were here, trying to fix the mistakes of everyone else. Now they were here, the remaining three of the Crystal Gems, attempting to save the day when no one else could. When even they couldn’t. They were doing the impossible. Right now, she was tasked with trying to think of what to do next. She wasn’t sure what Sapphire’s reaction was going to be if she was here right now. Would she be disappointed? Would she be angry? Would she be content? Thinking of the possibilities of such impossibilities felt wrong. Keeping on thinking of what Sapphire would do wasn’t working. She had to do this  _ for _ her. For everyone else. They were the only ones left after all.

The silence had been dragging on for too long now. A quick glance at Lapis and she knew that she was in her own world. She would be hearing, seeing and feeling everything around them but she wouldn’t be here. She was in her own world. A glance at Pearl and she could already tell that something was bothering her as well, evidenced by the fact that she was muttering as if speaking with somebody when no one was there. Whatever was bothering the two of gems, she couldn’t solve any of their problems. Not now and most likely won’t even be nearing it in the future. All of them had so many problems that it became harder and harder not to just cave in to the sheer weight of everything. The only thing they could do was try to be there for each other. Right now, what she needed was information. They weren’t going to do this blind. They were a team.   
  
“Pearl. Details.” So little words, yet enough. There was no need to do it over the top. The sudden break of silence and atmosphere would force Pearl out of her stupor, shaking her head as if she hadn’t realized she wasn’t talking. Lapis wouldn’t even budge at all, continuing to stare at the bright sun. If they weren’t gems, she was pretty sure her eyes would have burnt by now. At least Pearl was somewhat alive and that was progress. Bad progress but progress nonetheless. Pearl wouldn’t look behind her, needing to make sure that their ride wasn’t going to crash. She would give a different form of confirmation instead. “Um… Sorry- I didn’t get that. Can you repeat what you said?” Ruby would reiterate within her mind that progress was progress. There was no reason to be angry right now, especially as they were on a living creature for transportation. No need to give the bird thing sun burns. 

Clearly, they weren’t mentally ready for such a large task. Ready or not though, they were about to be launched into the thick of it. There was no turning back now and she needed the two with her, ready or not. “Details, Pearl. I need details on… everything.” If she got her talking, she wouldn’t stop. It was far better than constantly thinking about things. Thinking used to be relaxing. Now, thinking felt like a punishment. Repeatedly wallowing in your misery just isn’t good for the mind. Pearl took a moment to assort through her thoughts. Ruby was pretty sure she was experiencing the same problem she had just gone through. Where does Pearl even start to explain everything?

“Right… This creature we’re currently traversing on is native to around several hundred solar systems around the Milky Way galaxy. You can see that it looks like what humans have discovered and named it to be pterodactyls. Flying, reptilian, sometimes feathery birds that traverse the sky and eat plants and small creatures.” Pearl would pat the creature’s head. The giant bird thing wouldn’t even recognize the head pats, probably far too large to even notice the three of them on it’s back. “The planet we’re on is  _ definitely  _ not Earth. The jungles, forests and fauna of Earth don’t even come close to the amount of blue we see in this environment. The atmosphere is also slightly more purplish, whilst Earth’s is clearly blue.” Ruby would open her mouth, gaping as she once again struggled to form any statement. What Pearl said just sprung up even more confusion. Stick with the basics as usual. “We were talking about the creature. What’s the story between…” She would vaguely wave at the bird and then at Pearl at front, forgetting that she couldn’t look behind her. She would get it though judging on context clues. Pearl would chuckle, shaking her head at the request. “That’s funny… No, I don’t think I’m retelling  _ that _ .” She would just deadpan, wondering why she wouldn’t share. What possible incident had she managed to pull off just to get this bird? 

Ruby would notice Pearl suddenly being unusually silent. For such a simple question, it was a wonder how she was even able to get her this moody. Whatever happened between her and the flying reptile was not good. She considered her options. If she pushed, what was she to gain anyway? A few bits of information that is most likely useless?. Pearl’s cold shoulder towards the topic only reinforced that she clearly didn’t want to talk about it. Everyone was worried about each other’s behaviors. Pearl’s mood swings, Lapis’ daydreams and her itch for success wasn’t normal. None of this was normal. The only possible way for all of them to get better was for them to finish this, once and for all. Now though, it felt impossibly far. The mood on the bird-plane would drop, somehow feeling like they were back at the campfire. Well then, that turned from bad to worse in a span of a couple of seconds.   
  
Pearl sighed, knowing that her acting up wasn’t helping. They were here to finish the mission. They weren’t here to dwell on the past, have jokes and laughs, and mess around. She had promises to keep and she wasn’t going to let anything or anyone to stop her. To break the promises she had made was out of the question. It was either she was going to do it or die trying. No restarts and retries for all of them. Too far gone to turn back, all their remaining purpose was to fulfill what they had been told to do- what they needed to do. What else was there to do? She would close her eyes for a moment to think. She knew that Ruby was listening regardless if she didn’t seem to be. “I know what planet we’re on and who’s on it.”

* * *

Blue Pearl always listened. She was made to listen to her Diamond, take orders no matter how tedious they were, and accomplish tasks to her highest and best potential. The jobs she had done were many, ranging from assorting through thousands of documents everyday to preparing rooms for the arrival of her Diamond. Her jobs were always monotonous. They were boring, unfulfilling and not worth it at all. Blue Pearl didn’t work for her jobs and tasks. She wasn’t just some lowly servant. She was a perfect Pearl, suited to her Diamond’s personality and preference, serving as their right hand. All of this was worth it because of her Diamond. Almost all the things she did was for her and her well-being. Her intention was to maintain the visions of her Diamond by enacting them and that was what she did. 

It didn’t mean she did everything for  _ only  _ her. Her Diamond was merciful and gracious and would often let her act on her own desires as long as all her jobs were accomplished. They may have been tedious but it didn’t mean they were impossible to do. Most of it was easy and hard to mess up anyway. It was only the sheer amount that sometimes set her back to her own freetime. Whenever she had the opportunity to do things for herself, she would use all that time without hesitation. Free times were plenty but short, so she took it to herself to maximise efficiency in her use. 

Blue Pearl would draw and sketch. Hours upon hours of typing repetitive words, managing and planning schedules, and all of her other tasks often led to her completely hating everything that came with it. She hated writing and typing anything to the point where she would only do it when required. It was when she was randomly doodling around on her screen when it hit her. Her jobs needn’t be as boring as they should. To spice things up, she would often draw what she saw, the meetings her Diamond was in, her fellow Pearls, the large palaces and all the other worthwhile things and places to draw. It was a rather relaxing way to make her job more tolerable. This wasn’t the only thing she did in her freetime.   
  
Blue Pearl would talk. It was an unorthodox hobby to have, especially with how notoriously quiet she actually was. She could argue that she was technically the quietest Pearl if it wasn’t for White’s Pearl. That wasn’t quiet, that was just plain creepy. It was often misunderstood that her silence in public appearances just meant that she didn’t like the position she was in. She was fine with that. She just wasn’t the type of gem to talk. With all the Diamonds constantly bickering, arguing, and sometimes coming to conclusions, there was no room for a Pearl to speak, so she didn’t. Just because she didn’t do something didn’t mean she couldn’t. You could argue that Yellow’s Pearl was pretty vocal yet was never punished for it. The way she acted around her Diamond was indicative of Yellow’s personality rubbing on her. With her brash and vocalization, it was no surprise that her Pearl followed suit. The same thing applied to her, speaking only when required just like her Diamond. It was pretty peaceful to be out of the spotlight.

Blue Pearl wouldn’t talk with lower class court gems. They constantly fawned over the Diamonds, flaunted their work in the hopes of getting promoted and generally were annoying snobs. They weren’t conversationalists, they were kiss-ups. She mingled with high class court gems. These were the gems who had reached all the way to the top and were content with their positions. They didn’t constantly drone about their jobs during breaks and instead actually  _ talked _ with other gems. Conversations weren’t so one-sided with these kinds of gems. It all depended on the type of higher class gem she talked to. The personal guards such as the Jaspers weren’t talkative at all and would always be on duty unless told to guard somewhere else. They didn’t talk because they had no breaks. The Sapphires were probably a part of her list of most likeable and enjoyable gems to talk to. Aside from the fact that they were awfully cute, they also gave some pretty good advice. She wasn’t sure if they were chill because of their low temperatures.

Blue Pearl wasn’t sure what to say about Pink’s Pearl. She wasn’t exactly the go-to gem to hang around with. Pink Diamond not doing much of her documents and just dumping them on her Pearl made the other gems see her as little as possible. It was actually rare to see her on break, with the sheer amount of work she had to do. Because her Diamond was being taught by the other Diamonds,  _ someone _ had to cover for her. Her one and only Pearl was there to do literally everything for her. She wouldn’t be sure to feel bad if it wasn’t for the fact that she seemed to be enjoying it so much. It was hard to tell from just observing. It was rather difficult to get a decent conversation with her without being forced to hear her be occupied on the phone. Work was still work though. Poor Pink.

None of them compared to Yellow’s Pearl. She was brash and overbearing regarding work, massively arrogant and haughty towards other gems, and liked to piss off and annoy her fellow Pearl’s whenever she thought they were doing a job incorrectly. She was the most irritating and idiotic clod she had ever met. Constantly bickering in everyone’s ear  _ except  _ the Diamonds, most gems immediately took a disliking to her. Blue back then often thought that she could just imagine the day that Yellow stepped out of line and she would finally be punished for her vain and unnecessary actions. Thousands of years being stuck with her did justify that. It would take time- very long time before she noticed something else about Yellow: she’s never afraid. Except under the supervision of a Diamond, there was little to nothing that could scare her. It appealed to her. Blue wasn’t a particularly courageous gem. She was shy, prone to jump and squeak in fear at the tiniest things. It was safe to say that she wasn’t a fighter. It might have been Yellow’s fierce personality that led her to start taking a liking to her. It would take another several thousand years before they actually had some chemistry. 

This was the best investment she could have ever possibly made. It took time but she was used to performing tedious tasks. Even if it meant slowly and surely getting Yellow to stop being a massive clod to her, it was worth it in the end. Yellow became less and less of a clod to everyone else, didn’t intentionally irritate everyone, and sometimes even helped other gems. Well, that last point only applied to her. Everyone else wasn’t  _ the same  _ according to Yellow, but she was fine with that. The good and bad aspects of Yellow showed itself in her and vise-versa. From antagonistic co-workers to the only reliable gem she trusted aside from Blue herself, it seemed that fate was kind enough to let them have this one. It felt good to care for someone aside from her Diamond. It felt good to know that someone cared for you back, even if they were still reluctant to even say it. All of this just because she took the time and effort to talk to her.   
  
Now, she was here doing the same exact thing she had done the other several hundred times she took breaks: to talk to Yellow. This time though, it was different. This was not going to be a fun and relaxed conversation between them. This was not like everyday where everything was normal. She mentally prepared herself as she turned the corner, seeing Yellow by the door to her Diamond’s palace. Without hesitation, she would go by her side, standing up right as if she was on duty. It was mostly her who had to approach. While improving, Yellow still didn’t often go to her. It was fine though as it meant that she would be waiting for her.    


“You realize what’s going to happen, right?” All of them knew what was next to come. During the discussion at the Diamond meeting, it had been laid down already that Yellow Diamond would be off to prepare for the invasion on Lacus-2. Yellow would nod, not verbally responding. It seemed that she too had a hard time thinking of the actions they would be forced to take.

“It’s going to take months, years, maybe even decades until we see each other again.” It all depended on how the invasion would go. She would hate that. Being unsure because of probability was just annoying. Constant work under her Diamond must have made her hate uncertainty as much as her Diamond herself. Once again, Yellow would only nod. Blue knew that Yellow was nervous. Whenever she  _ wasn’t  _ spouting off about her successes and everyone else’s failures, it usually meant that she was nervous about something. It wouldn’t be normal if she wasn’t at least slightly nervous. Clearly, she was very much so. Yellow Pearl would open her mouth for a moment before closing it again, seemingly unable to form a single word.    
  
Blue sighed. She didn’t enjoy one-sided conversations. Usually, Yellow was the one leading the talking and not her. Today was different and that was fine. Without hesitation, she would suddenly latch on to Yellow, hugging her tightly. Invasions weren’t something to take lightly. It would somehow only make her feel worse when Yellow didn’t hesitate to hug back. “You better call me whenever you can.”    


These were the few moments that Blue appreciated Yellow’s cocky personality. “Don’t worry. I’m a tough gem. Nothing never gonna happen to me.” 

* * *

Peridot facet-1a6l cut 1-xg ran. She ran to her Diamond’s palace as fast as possible. She knew that it was pointless to call ahead, doubting that anybody would even pick up. Unless it was an emergency of the highest level, only then would it be instantaneous. Not being sure of the actual problem didn’t warrant such levels which meant that she had to run. No alarms would sound as she neared the doors of the palace. Of course there wouldn’t- she was a registered gem who often came into the palace to perform orders. Once she was at the top of the stairs, she would approach the control panel of the door to request access. She wasn’t even able to input anything, being interrupted by the sudden opening of the door. It was… White’s Sapphire. She would immediately salute. “Don’t say anything, Peridot facet-1a6l cut 1-xg. White Diamond has ordered you to accompany me. All other priorities are to be laid back.” Sapphire’s gem would light up for a moment before going dark again.    
  
Peridot’s screen would beep. She didn’t need to look to know that she had received her mission and was expected to now accomplish this. She would look around, disliking how vulnerable they were in the open. “Your guard?” Sapphire wouldn’t respond at all. She bit her lip for a moment before relenting. Doing something productive was far better than standing around like idiots. “As you wish. Follow me.” She turned around, going down the stairs. She pulled her screen out, reading the information sent to her as they were walking to her lab. Every so often, she would look left and right, terribly paranoid even if they were in the very heart of Homeworld. No one could be  _ too _ safe. She wasn’t worried about her guard though as they were probably tasked with guarding her from somewhere hidden. Peridot  _ hoped _ they were doing so. Two valuable gems wandering around on the surface of Homeworld was sure to attract attention.    
  
Sapphire’s nonchalance towards the whole situation didn’t ease her one bit. All Sapphires were told and ordered to act professional to the point where they all seemed cold and emotionless. White’s Sapphire would be subject to much more rigid terms than a normal one, so she wasn’t that surprised about her seemingly uncaring partner who didn’t give a damn about the possible danger they were in. Oh, right… A Sapphire saw multiple possibilities, highlighting the most probable one. Maybe she wasn’t seeing any danger.  _ Maybe, she was just acting coy about it. _ She shook her head. Her paranoia constantly nudging her wasn’t exactly a bad thing. It just made her awfully scared to do much. One brisk yet quiet walk later, they would arrive at a tall green spire without any windows. This building would be the laboratory or as she liked to call it, headquarters. 

The laboratory would be the information and scientific division of Homeworld. They were tasked with gaining and discovering information, uncovering secrets, keeping tabs on everything and everyone, and performing experiments on the information they gained. It was a much more complex job than it was to explain. It was a relief that they were here, as there was now visible security detail. A group of four gems consisting of two Topazes and two Aquamarines guarded the only walk-in entrance of the spire. They wouldn’t say anything as they briskly walked through. She would take a glance at the Sapphire following her, disappointed that she hadn’t even tried to try  _ some _ conversation with her. She guessed that she was far too busy to talk chit-chat. They were here for a reason. They were greeted with a bright green door. “Observation Chamber X-12.” Her gem would glow when a series of bright green lights scanned her. Recognizing a registered member, the door would open to the room she had requested.

Peridot was a gem of many talents. She could create high-end weapons, ships and technology from the bare minimum of materials. She could fix anything most would consider unfixable. She could lead a whole squad of gems to work on multiple tasks with extreme efficiency without any hitches and mistakes. In her mind, none of those were exaggerated. After all, serving directly under White Diamond herself required one to have talent and perseverance. Though she was a gem of many benefits and talents, she could and never would be a gem for everything. There was a reason why there were different types of gems for different types of jobs. Some just wouldn’t be compatible for certain jobs.   
  
What does one do when they are tasked with a job they weren’t proficient in? They would have to do what Peridot was going to do. First of all, she had to understand what she was ordered to do.  _ Figure out what her visions mean. Do not disappoint her. _ She was dealing with sight-seeing and future telling, not exactly her area of expertise. It didn’t mean she wasn’t going to try. Her very life hung on the line and she was pretty sure this Sapphire was on the shatter train as well. Right now though, she couldn’t let herself become distracted by what-ifs about herself. She would distract herself with what-ifs regarding the vision Sapphire saw. 

Peridot would lead the Sapphire inside an observation chamber. Here, they would be able to see the vision Sapphire saw with clear accuracy as if they were about to relive it again. The room was circular, coated metallic green all over. There would be no visible screens on any surface as they were already on them. The walls to the very floor were screens that could emulate anything to perfection. They would both approach the only thing in the room that was visible and that was a hovering orb in the very middle of the room. She waited for the Sapphire to enter the room and prepare herself. Once there was nothing else to do, she snapped her fingers. The door behind them would close, the room growing very dark. The only thing lighting the room was the crystal ball in the middle. “Welcome, my Sapphire, to Observation Chamber X-12. The sole purpose of this room is to view memories. The very floor you are standing on is covered in screens, including the walls and the ceiling. There are hidden emulators everywhere, enabling us to not only have visuals as output but also have audio, smell, textures... you name it.”

Peridot would gesture to the hovering, spherical orb in the middle of the room. “This is the orb. It acts as the gateway from your gem to the system. Once the system has recognized the memory and event you wish to view, you may proceed to start viewing it.” Once she got confirmation from Sapphire’s nod, she would proceed to clutch the hovering ball. The very moment she had clutched it, her eyes would shine bright white. She would take a look at Sapphire. “Using the orb will not impair any of my senses, evidenced by the fact that I can see you standing there.” She would turn away from her. “Mark, 10:02. Peridot facet-1a6l cut 1-xg using Observation Chamber X-12; purpose: test run.” A bright green light would flash from Peridot’s feet, signalling that the system recognized her register. “Now that I’m registered, we can see if the settings here are set correctly… Give me a moment…” 

The screens all around them would suddenly burst out numbers and data, none of it making sense to the future-seeing gem. A series of beeps would play around the room, the surround sound working perfectly. The smell of plant life would suddenly emanate from the right side of the room, the olfactory sensors working as well. “Confirm, sensors: active.” Now that she was able to confirm that the room was working perfectly well, she would take her hands off of the ball. Immediately, the screens around them would grow dim as the system began to shut off. She would clasp her gem, wincing at the spike of pain that ran through it. “Side-effects are temporary spikes of pain on the gem and subsequent numbness afterwards. The observation chamber’s programming is so invasive that it goes right through our gem’s core. It wouldn’t be able to sift and summon the memories without it.” Once the spike of pain would go away it would be replaced by cold numbness, taking off her hand off of her cheek afterwards. “Rejuvenated and recently reformed gems are not allowed to access the chamber. Use of the system will cause immense pain until subsequent shattering shortly afterwards... Have you been rejuvenated and or poofed recently?”    
  
Sapphire’s head shake would essentially confirm the all-clear for the procedure. Peridot though, the maniac that she was, couldn’t help but confirm once again. “Are you  _ absolutely  _ sure we will go through this process? Vision viewing is possible but is prone to cause massive amounts of pain to the user depending on length and clarity and that’s only to name a few.” Peridot was sure that this particular Sapphire was the best of the best of her division. Just working directly for White Diamond already said many things. Her visions would be the most clear and realistic out of all the other Sapphires. If everything was going to go as smoothly as planned, nothing would happen. If one thing didn’t line up, everything could go horribly wrong. Sure, there were no recorded cases of any Sapphires being shattered and even poofed in the time frame since this system was created. It didn’t mean it was perfected- far from it. So much more could go wrong especially with the intricacy of the gem’s coding of this particular Sapphire.

“I’m sure. Thank you for the warnings, Peridot. Let us engage with the procedure.” Sapphire would walk up next to her, staring directly at the hovering orb in front of them. She would appear to be transfixed by the ball, not looking at anything else but at it. “We have been given our orders.” Right, the orders. No matter what, if they wanted to record the memory as fast and as efficient as possible, they were going to have to use this system no matter what. Peridot would sigh before reluctantly nodding. “No need for you to speak. Go ahead and place your palms underneath the orb.” Sapphire would do so, the orb slowly letting itself stay on her palms. Rays of white would pierce through from her bangs and a green light would light up around her feet. “So far, so good…” A moment of observing the data on her screen made it clear that so far, everything was working as intended. “Mark, 10:08. Sapphire W-1 using Observation Chamber X-12; purpose: Vision viewing, Memory Extraction for Future Studying.” The gem was ready to go.    
  
Peridot would take a long look at her data before eventually breaking away. She would double tap her screen, shrinking around her wrists to the size of a small band. Once she wasn’t holding anything anymore, she would long press the side of her visors. A display only she saw would pop up. In this mode, she was able to view data but not interact with it as easily as typing on her screen. “Sapphire, you have been registered into the system. I want you to think of the memory of your vision. Let the system do the rest of the work.” Sapphire would hear this and nod. She would concentrate, staring deeply into the ball and making sure she was thinking of the memory. They waited. There was no set time for the system to successfully locate the memories. It could take a few seconds and it could take up to far longer. A few seconds passed and there was no recognition. More time passed and paranoia quickly crept in. The system wasn’t supposed to take  _ this _ long. She would have stopped the process if it wasn’t for the fact that a red light shone from underneath.

The data she received from her visors made her feel even worse.  _ Error code 16-IG. No input detected.  _ “Sapphire, are you thinking of the memory? The system can’t recognize any memory and therefore won’t work.” Thinking about memories wasn’t hard. If anything, the harder part was not accidentally thinking of something else. For the system to not recognize anything was weird and abnormal. Focusing on the data, she’d see Sapphire slightly wobble from the corner of her vision. It would take a moment for her to reach the gem, making sure she wouldn’t fall. “Peridot facet-1a6l cut 1-xg, System Override: Shutdown.” The red light from underneath Sapphire would shut off and the orb would slowly float back to it’s hovering position. 

A flicker of irritation and worry would cross her face when she noticed how much Sapphire looked tired and exhausted. Exhaustion wasn’t  _ supposed  _ to be a side-effect, yet here they were, facing a system glitch along with that. Sapphire not even saying anything was the worst part. If she had poofed or worse… shattered, White would have her gem. “This isn’t going to work. We need to try something else.” She would deal with Sapphire’s unhelpful silence later. Right now, she needed her to rest.

* * *

Pink’s Pearl hated this place so much. You would have thought that the place where she was created would hold a special place in her heart. It did. This place, along with all memories of it, were locked down to the deepest pits of her gem. If only this place could be destroyed into a pile of debris. There were multiple reasons as to why she holds so much thorough hatred for this place. The majority of it due to the very fact that she was a  _ Pearl.  _ Created to be obedient and follow orders, there was little free will given around. It didn’t mean that Pink was a cruel owner. If anything, she was the best Diamond she could have possibly been sent to. But, that was the problem. She was the best while she sat down at the lowest of the hierarchy. What was a lowly Pearl to the great Pink Diamond? Oftentimes, it hurt.   
  
Now, she was in the very building where Pearls were created, outfitted, or… repurposed. Creation was alright. Buying her useless outfits and decorative pieces were fine as well. Being repurposed because of the failures of said Pearl? It wasn’t. Who wouldn’t fear death? She wasn’t exactly sure what was going to happen to her now. From the moment that she had caused an incident during the Diamond meeting, she knew that she was in it for the long haul. It was far better for her to be punished rather than her beautiful Diamond. She preferred to not have to choose between these two evils. Her attention would drift from the silent place to the very last time one Pearl had been repurposed here. The original Pink Pearl, so joyous and expressive, turned into a shell of herself.

She couldn’t help but wonder if she was going to end up in the same exact situation as her. Once defective, she would immediately be thrown away like some sort of… She couldn’t even find the words to complete her thought. She along with White Diamond entered the diagnostics room. This was where they would find out any problems she had with her gem. This was where the original Pink Pearl would have gone to as well. None of this boded good for her. The room started to feel oppressive and claustrophobic. It kind of sounded the same as her reason for collapsing within the Diamond Palace but it was completely different. Something lacked to completely make it the same as her collapse. This was different. This was just fear. She had started to become antsy, frantically looking around the room for any possible exits.  _ Don’t kid yourself. There’s only one way out of here.  _ She forced herself to calm down, now staring at the circular platform in the middle.    
  
It was easy. Step on the platform and the shell would close in on you. If there were no defects, you would be let go free. If there  _ were _ defects… She didn’t know how her disposal was going to happen, but she knew she wouldn’t like it. One way or another, she was going through that process. If she just stood here like an idiot, they would all be wasting their time. She didn’t want White Diamond to be even more furious with her. She steeled herself, finally taking steps to approach the platform. Every step she took, it would feel as if the platform would stretch farther and farther away. She would try to lengthen her strides but it didn’t work. She wasn’t getting on the platform like an obedient Pearl and she was wasting everyone’s time. Without warning, there would be a flash of bright white…   
  
Pearl opened her eyes. She was still here. She wasn’t shattered. She wasn’t rejuvenated. She was fine. What was she doing? Her slouched position and shaky movements made her look unprofessional. It made her look silly and demeaning. She breathed heavily, straightening her body and steeling herself to be ready. All or nothing now. Without hesitation, she walked towards the pad. This time, she was in control. This time, she was ready. Before she even knew it, she was already on the platform. A beep would resonate across the chamber, the walls of the shell slowly closing in on her. Silence reigned. It felt like hours had passed when in reality, it had been only seconds. Wherever this was coming from, she would not stumble. She will go through this with dignity, even if it was the last thing she was going to do. So she stood defiantly tall and waited for her judgement.

A blue light emanated from the interior of the shell, suddenly opening. “No defects detected.”

“ _ Interesting…” _

**Chapter 5 END**

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's 3 am. I'll leave the AN in the comments next time. 
> 
> Clods.


End file.
